Celebrating 10 Years: Shine City Project
Photos courtesy of SCP
March 16 marks the 10th anniversary of a group of young Unificationists launching the Shine City Project (SCP), inspired by True Parents’ love for the environment and selfless heart of serving others. Volunteers cleaned up the corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard in 2013 and never looked back, spending the past decade transforming Las Vegas from ‘Sin City’ to ‘Shine City.’
“The Shine City Project challenges our city’s culture of self-centeredness to become one of selflessness,” said SCP Director Jeffrey Silerio, a founding member of the group. “We aim to build leaders of heart and character who share love and compassion for others while being stewards for the environment.”
SCP has since contributed thousands of volunteer hours in and around the greater Las Vegas area, with Jeffrey and his younger sister, Jennifer, even recognized in January 2022 with the President’s Volunteer Service Award for their combined 127 hours of community service during 2021.
Over the past two years, SCP has continued to scale its volunteering with recurring weekend service projects. In 2022, they amassed some 1,200 service hours and completed 52 service projects in total — nearly one every week. “[We are grateful] to the 98 volunteers who joined our service projects in 2022,” said Jeffrey. “We had volunteers not just from North America, but Central and South America as well,” he said, recalling a clean-up project in Uruguay in December.
The group’s 2023 goal carries on this trend, as ongoing collaboration and partnerships with more than 20 organizations from around the community enables SCP to have a significant impact. From planting vegetation in community gardens and rehabilitating recreational areas, to delivering hot meals and basic necessities to people in need, the SCP team remains determined to make Las Vegas known for hospitality beyond its infamous hotel strip. “I believe that the efforts of any one person can create a ripple effect with other people,” said Jeffrey.
While SCP continues working with various non-profit organizations — including Green Our Planet, Ahern Orchard, and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission shelter — the group is also branching out this year to work with more of the community’s faith-based groups, such as Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. “[We] have love and appreciation for the special participation of [different faith groups],” said Jeffrey while noting their great influence.
Within the Unification movement, SCP has partnered with CARP Las Vegas, Generation Peace Academy, Harrison House, Las Vegas Heavenly Parent's Holy Community, New Hope Foundation International, and Youth and Students for Peace USA, among others. “Together, we will create a more loving and caring community which, in turn, can create a more loving and peaceful world,” Jeffrey said. “If a change can happen in Las Vegas, change can happen everywhere.”
You can learn more about the Shine City Project here.