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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 115 No. 48 Two Sections
NOVEMBER 27-DECEMBER 3, 2024
thenewpittsburghcourier Published Weekly $1.00
Giving back to your community The true meaning of the holidays
KYSHAWN ROBINSON, XAIR STEVENSON, ELIJAH GIST, RAFAEL DIAZ. THEY WERE AMONG THE TEENS INVOLVED IN REACH/CARES AS THE ORGANIZATION SERVED THANKSGIVING DINNERS.
PAM HEYWOOD AND NICHOL GREENE, WITH TOP LADIES OF DISTINCTION INC., PITTSBURGH STEEL CITY CHAPTER, NEAR KENNYWOOD PARK, NOV. 16. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)
The season of giving is here. Whether it's Thanksgiving, or Christmas, everyone knows that it's better to give than to receive. The New Pittsburgh Courier caught up with two Black community organizations who are doing their part to give back. REACH/Cares held a Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway for more than 300 people Downtown, Nov. 21, and Top Ladies of Distinction Inc., Pittsburgh Steel City Chapter, collected clothes for women in need, and spent Nov. 16 cleaning the streets near Kennywood Park. Read more about these two organizations on Pages A6 and A8.
Amachi Pittsburgh celebrates 20 years of helping youth, families by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
When the light bulb turns on, it's a wonderful sight. That's according to Anna Hollis Kander, the executive director of Amachi Pittsburgh, who watches the proverbial light bulb turn on time after time with her high-schoolers involved in Amachi's "Ambassadors" program. The Amachi Ambassadors program is geared toward Pittsburgh-area high school students who have an incarcerated parent or family member. It's one of the many programs Amachi Pittsburgh has to help children and families through the tough time— whether it's months or years—of navigating life without their loved one(s) due to incarceration. Amachi Pittsburgh is 20 years in the making, as they celebrated the organization and its mission during an event, Nov. 14, at Circuit Center on the South Side. The event was called, "Amachi Hachi Pa-
chi: Legacy of Impact Celebration." "They can be a part of the change," Hollis Kander told WAMO Radio's Kiki Brown in an interview that aired in early November. High-schoolers' "voices and experiences matter, they have a lot of powerful stories (to tell). They have meaning." Hollis Kander said the high school students in the program learn about civic engagement, political education, the schoolto-prison pipeline, how to use their “voice,” storytelling, "and we engage them in a number of different activities that help them understand their own personal agency to make change happen." For Amachi's family support program, Amachi provides workshops to strengthen the parent-child relationship and increase healthy family functioning involving children and the custodial and incarcerated parents, case management supSEE AMACHI A5
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ANNA HOLLIS KANDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AMACHI PITTSBURGH, WITH A PROCLAMATION FROM THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH MAYOR’S OFFICE (BROTHER MELVIN HUBBARD EL PRESENTING). (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)