Victims of Southern California wildfires motivate youth offenders to make amends

Mentors at San Quentin have motivated young offenders to prepare and donate essential items for victims of the recent wildfires plaguing Southern California.

In 2020, San Quentin resident and co-chair Larry Deminter founded the Youthful Offender Program Creating Amends Recycling Everyone Stuff at Men’s Colony in San Louis Obispo, Calif. The program originated as a restorative justice project for young offenders. 

Donated items consisted of clothing, shoes, toys, and essentials such as spoons, bowl, and cups. All items are washed and refurbished for distribution by volunteer San Quentin youth offenders. 

“This was a teachable moment for the youth, they [young offenders] asked ‘what can we do,’ the mentors stepped in and showed them how to make indirect living amends,” Deminter stated.

The program’s mission statement is to “impact the under served communities, and disaster effected areas.” 

San Quentin Resident and Co-Chair Steven Wright stated that the program is a form of rehabilitation because it shows empathy to others. Youthful Offenders helps participants express compassion for other people.

“If you could help someone from prison, you could help someone on the outside,” Wright said.  “To commit an unselfish act for someone in a bad situation make a person feels good about what they have done.”

According to Deminter, it took the young volunteers two days to gather all the items and prepare them to be shipped to the fire-impacted areas.

According to Deminter, the Los Angeles-based Made New Foundation is helping C.A.R.E.S. with the distribution. The foundation sponsors rehabilitation programs inside Southern California prisons.

The items will be shipped per San Quentin administration’s approval. The cost will be paid by Y.O.P. C.A.R.E.S. Co-chair Deminter, who stated the cost will range from $50–100.