December 16 (Desislava Toncheva of BTA) - The US Ambassador's Youth Council (USYC), a non-profit organization of young Bulgarians, hosted its annual Christmas charity event on Monday. Instead of their usual Christmas Charity Cocktail, this year, in light of the epidemic situation, the Youth Council organized a charity ice skating evening at the Yunak ice skating rink, said current USYC President Mina Raduncheva to BTA.

This year, the organization chose to aid a more physically-positive cause in the face of the Kaylaka Riders - a nonprofit organization that supports the development of young mountain bikers in Bulgaria, including young people who are competing professionally, trainers, and amateurs. The organization aims to provide professional training, gear and equipment for young people. If they gather enough support, the Kaylaka Ridres may even participate in the next Olympic games. More about the club find here: https://www.facebook.com/KaylakaRidersPleven. The most recent accomplishment of Kaylaka Riders is a gold medal and 1st place in the national chart for the young Kaloyan Yankulov.

In previous years the USYC hosted an annual Christmas Charity Cocktail and sold homemade food & crafts in order to raise money for their preferred causes, which have included mothers of children with special needs, trainers of volunteers at foster homes, elderly people, cleaning the Bulgarian beaches, etc, explained Raduncheva. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the USYC created an online stand up comedy charity event with comic Georgi Kyuchukov and raised money for the Home for Adults with Sensory Disabilities in Sofia.

The US Ambassador's Youth Council was established and funded in November 2014 by the then-US Ambassador to Bulgaria, Marcie B. Ries. The Council is composed of young, dynamic Bulgarians working in various fields, many of them representing various NGOs, and, according to their website, has three main objectives: to create opportunities for innovative young Bulgarian leaders to meet and exchange ideas with Bulgarian, American and international experts, to create creative, practical and accurate solutions to the problems that young Bulgarians face today and to advise the US Embassy on how to better understand the problems that motivate and worry young Bulgarians and thus improve the embassy's efforts to solve them. The Youth Council is not a political organization.

Previous USYC events and initiatives have included an essay competition, titled УТhe Importance of Young People for the Future of EuropeФ, Art Fest Bankya, the ''Eternal Values Brought by American Horses'' photo exhibition, DIGIT Festival 2020, LAGO Fest Samokov, and the Road to Success YouTube Podcast. One of the organization's upcoming projects is a documentary on people's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, titled ''Lockdown Stories'', which will come out in 2022.

DT