On Halloween, Midwest Region Rep Marla Mesarina set up a UNITY booth in Cass Lake Minnesota on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation where she was happy to answer questions about what UNITY is and how youth
can get involved. Marla was giving out candy and having the youth and adults write their answers on a sticky-note to the question “What is something you’d like to see in your community?”. Those who participated received a T-Shirt or aUNITY fanny pack! One of the answers from a youth who wrote on a sticky note stuck out to me, they wrote “More kid safe activity spots”.
“That one touched my heart and I can’t wait to work with the new upcoming Leech Lake youth council to bring awareness to this. If the youth don’t feel safe on their own reservation, then who does? I am so thankful for these answers I received and I hope this inspires other youth councils to bring awareness about that!” – Mesarina