Whether it is supplying over 1,000 masks for families in need, creating educational videos for children in Ghana or fundraising money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County, 16 year old Jasmine Yazid will lead the way. The high school junior has dedicated her young life to supporting others and improving the lives of those in her surrounding community.

As father Zoubir Yazid, COO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County, moved around the country for work, Yazid spent a majority of her childhood traveling. “I got to see a lot of the world and also see different people from across the globe. So that kind of like fueled my interest in world issues and also being able to help other people,” said Yazid.

This year, Yazid is taking part in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County’s Run for Club Kids fundraiser. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual fundraiser to support the children of the club, has been virtualized. In order to continue raising money, Yazid decided she would put together her own new version of a run for her team.

“With COVID, we can’t have a normal race, which is what the run for kids was. It was like a race. So instead of doing that, we’re gonna be doing a dawn to dusk (run), which is when one person runs to make it more safe for COVID,” said Yazid.

A group of Yazid’s close family and friends are joining force and planning to meet up at a local park and take turns running alone until they can’t anymore. Once one person has stopped, the other will begin, creating an entire days worth of running.

Yazid said, “Since we’re putting ourselves through something like this, we’re asking people to sponsor us and donate money for this, which we will then donate to the club.”

Yazid’s team efforts in the run has already raised $504. With an anticipated goal of $700, she hopes to raise as much as she can for the organization.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County, especially the Trenton location, is a special place for Yazid. According to Yazid, getting to understand the local community at the level of its children has been an eye opener.

“Being just a little part of the kid’s life, just to be able to help them attain their dream in some way; it means a lot to me,” said Yazid.

 

 

 

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