RMLA Youth Awards Program

The Youth Committee, in concert with the RMLA Board, is excited to welcome all youth members to participate in the Youth Awards Program (YAP). This is a point-based incentive program to encourage involvement and participation from our youth members. Members will receive points based on their participation in three areas of emphasis: participation in RMLA events, community outreach, and education. All youth members will have the opportunity to earn each of the incentive awards based on their involvement in the following categories, and youth will be rewarded for earning multiple points in each of the three categories.

• Participation in RMLA sanctioned events.
  Examples include showing at the National Western Stock Show or volunteering to assist with activities. RMLA events are a marketing tool and should portray alpacas/llamas positively and professionally. Again, members will be rewarded for showing or volunteering at such events.
• Community outreach.
  Community outreach refers to efforts that connect RMLA’s ideas or practices to the public. Community outreach takes on an educational component that engages the community. Community outreach is key to the RMLA mission. Some acceptable examples of community outreach include hosting events, training, and participating in local events. Festivals and community events are great places to interact with the community. It also raises awareness, provides a face for our organization, and allows you to share takeaway content to help people you meet remember you and visit the RMLA website to learn more.
• Education.
  Education improves one’s knowledge, skills and develops the personality and attitude in ourselves and others. Examples of educational activities include attending seminars or workshops sponsored by RMLA or other organizations on the care or showing of llamas and alpacas. Other examples are writing an informational or educational article for the RMLA Journal or submitting a photograph with captions to be published on the RMLA website or in the RMLA Journal.

Earn Points for Your Activities:

The following are established ways you may earn points in the Youth Awards Program. Complete your entry on Survey Monkey and, when needed, send any additional materials to Ron Cosner, Youth Committee Chair.  Your activities may be published in the Journal.

1. Participate in an RMLA sponsored event. 100 points. Work with the RMLA event organizer to explore how you may help with the event. When the event is complete, write and submit a description of what you did.
2. Invite a fellow youth to join RMLA and participate in the YAP. 100 points. Report who and when became a new member and how he/she is participating.
3. Participate in events organized by other non-RMLA sponsored events. 75 points. These could be local, county, state, ILR or ALSA sanctioned shows, and local events such as parades, community relations or workshops. Contact the adult organizer and volunteer to work with the event. After the event is complete, write and submit a description of what you did.
4. Mentor. 75 points. Work with a youth who is recently new to llamas or alpacas. Teach how to be safe around their animal, halter and lead correctly and take a walk. Write and submit a report of what you did. Please send 2 photos to Youth Committee Chair.
5. Take your llama or alpaca on a hike or pack trip. 50 points. Write a 300-to-500-word story. Submit your story with at least two photos to the Youth Committee Chair.
6. Fiber project. 50 points. Do you shear, spin, knit or other fiber activities? Write a story of what you did and send with at least two photos to the Youth Committee Chair.
7. Review a lama-related book. 25 points.  Go to RMLA.com/library and check out a book of interest to you. Write a 300 to 500 word review and share your comments on the book. Send your report to the Youth Committee Chair.
8. Write an article not suggested in the ideas above. 25 points. RMLA loves to tell how great our Youth members are. If you participate in any other event or have learned something that will be helpful to others, send a small article with a couple photos to the Youth Committee Chair.

The Youth Awards Program uses SurveyMonkey to keep track of youth member participation. Once you have participated in a qualifying event or completed a qualifying activity click here and tell us what you did. Youth members will need to complete an individual survey for each activity they participated in. The reporting period will run from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. Incentive awards may include but are not limited to, clothing items, show supplies, promotional items, and educational books or materials. All prizes will be mailed to all qualifying youth participants by February 28, 2023.

In closing, we need youth members to get involved and promote this enjoyable hobby. Let’s get out there and grow our membership, our knowledge, and the future of RMLA!