'A Mother's Love' gives North Minneapolis youth summer jobs with meaningful purpose

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - For a group of kids in North Minneapolis, their summer jobs are more than just a paycheck. 

Thanks to the community group "A Mother’s Love" they’re learning about food insecurity and community pride as well.  

"We have so much harm happening in our community today, so I wanted them to know the beauty in giving back to the community," said Lisa Clemons, the group leader.

Thanks to a grant, 15 children work four hours a day, Monday through Thursday, at places like The Sanctuary food shelf at Broadway and Lyndale in Minneapolis. They sort food and stock shelves for those who might need a little help putting food on the table. 

"It just makes me feel good. I mean I usually like helping people anyway, so being able to do it and have a job at the same time is cool to me," said 14-year-old Mylaysia Anderson. 

Tank Cotton, 13, likes doing work that many people would hate; picking up trash. 

"People need to stop littering like, I don’t find that cool. I don’t find that cool," he said. 

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Tavin Stoll loves giving back through his ability to speak Spanish. 

"Like some of my coworkers think you do not need to go the extra mile today, but ya know anything to help other people that don’t know much English," Tavin said. 

The children are ages 12 to 17, and Clemons said starting at 12 is crucial. 

"We started at the age of 12 because that’s the age we’re seeing when we go down to JDC when we’re out here in the community kids getting into trouble, so we wanted to start at that age to say that somebody cares," she said.   

The children make $15 an hour, and while the program is currently for 15 children, Clemons hopes to expand it to 50 next summer. 

To learn more about "A Mother's Love" visit their website here.