Crossborder Tourism & Recreation Alliance-CTRA is a registered 501c3 charitable organization, you can find us on guidestar. Our goals are to foster public and private partnerships to enhance tourism and recreation programs that support youth development. We strive to develop youth leadership and volunteerism through involving them in giving back while promoting their own community.
WNY PB & J Jam
Our annual event that brings it all together. This project gives underserved populations of kids and opportunity to continue their music education throughout the summer months when they do not have access to teachers while encouraging them to give back to the PB &J Jam and as we put it Playing for a Cause. We put together a core band of professional musicians from the WNY region with occasional guest sit ins from touring artist. The youth musicians sign up to play along side the artist on stage with full sound. The goal is to move them from page to the stage, building confidence and the ability to sit in with other artist at any time to learn from them.
#Stopthinkcall
One way we have implemented our goals is through #stopthinkcall911 born out of the loss of a young man in the Stevens St fire which impacted the whole community. #stopthinkcall911 works to bridge the gap between young people and first responders. Our first outreach we partnered with the City 4th of July celebration and had first responders playing disc golf and handing out freeze pops to families. We also did a First Responders Reading Day and 2021 we partnered with the Lockport Youth & Rec Dept for a Touch A Truck Event and we gave away 100 baby ice cream cones. A portion of our event proceeds goes to directly to Community Police and Fire Depts to support pop up play out in the community from Fire Dept Dog Days with free hot dogs to Policing Pizza stops.
We believe that it truly takes a Village to keep our children safe so the are inspired to achieve their dreams with seeds of hope through positive interaction.
Mark 4: The Parables of the sown seed: A sower went out to sow and as he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds ate them, others fell on rocks and sprouted quick but with shallow roots they were burnt out by the sun, others fell among the thorns and were choked out by the weeds and yet others fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing many times. We will scatter the seed and watch it sprout as we know not how but with all faith believe the harvest will come. So let the smallest of seed be sown and enriched to grow to be the largest of garden plants with its branches reaching far and wide.
