[lil_sunshine]

I'm a member on the NAACP and my youth council has a Kwanzaa celebration every year. It's a new tradition we've had since 1993 or 94. I joined in 1995 and have been the chairperson for this event for three years in a row. At our celebration, we state what the seven principles are, what they mean to us, how we can use them in our daily lives, etc. Some of the youth council members perform (I usually do a poem if I have one prepared for the program). We also use the celebration to end our collective food, clothing, and toy drives. We give the food and clothing to an organization who can benefit from it and we give the toys to any children who attend the program. The last thing that is done is that we install the newly elected youth council officers (elections are usually held the month before). There are also times when the youth council members exchange gifts as well.

Thanks for creating this thread so that I could share my ray of "sunshine" with you guys.