What does Global Youth Service Day mean to our community? Rebuilding bikes, installing walking paths, mentoring young students, preparing community gardens, painting murals, planting flowers, assembling racks, and removing invasive plants are just a smattering of the projects taken on by local youth April 11th during the third annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). Youth from more than 100 nations participated in GYSD, making it the largest service event in the world..
Locally organized by the Monroe County Youth Council, GYSD was supported by the Asset Building Coalition, the Bloomington Volunteer Network, and United Way of Monroe County. This year's GYSD brought over 250 high school students together in service projects focused on issues like poverty, hunger, environment, and literacy. For the first time this year, high school students were paired with elementary school students to share their day of service and to instill a love of volunteering in another generation. Also new this year was a project involving IU undergraduates and middle school students, hosted by SPEA’s Nonprofit Leadership Alliance and the Civic Leaders Living and Learning Center. In total, over 600 youth in our community participated in this day of service!
Students from Bloomington High School North, Bloomington High School South, Edgewood High School, The Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship, The Bloomington Graduation School, and Tri-North Middle School spent their day volunteering at over 30 service projects throughout the community.
>> Click here to view photos from the day.
These nonprofit and community organizations hosted projects for GYSD volunteers:
- Backstreet Mission
- Bloomington Community Bike Project
- Bloomington Community Orchard
- Bloomington Housing Authority
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Boys and Girls Clubs
- City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation
- Fairview Elementary
- Head Start
- Hilltop Gardens
- Hoosier Hills Food Bank
- Hoosier to Hoosier Sale
- Middle Way House
- People & Animal Learning Services (PALS)
- Shalom Community Center
- Stone Belt
- United Way of Monroe County
- The Warehouse
Thanks also to Youth Services America, Disney Friends for Change, Sodexo Foundation, and State Farm for their generous funding and support of this initiative.
Since its creation in 1988, Youth Service America’s Global Youth Service Day campaign has become the largest service day in the world. It is celebrated worldwide always centering on youth involvement in community projects.
The Monroe County Youth Council (MCYC), established in 2011, is a group of youths aged 12-18 dedicated to improving the quality of life of youth within Monroe County. The MCYC exists to create and administer youth-led projects and programs that are by youth and for youth, to discuss and deliberate public policy issues affecting youth, and to serve as an advisory board to local organizations, institutions, businesses, government, and the community. The MCYC is a project of the Asset Building Coalition and is facilitated by a governance board of elected members representing Monroe County youth-service providers, government officials, and community leaders, including United Way.
If you're a teen interested in volunteering or serving on the planning committee, contact mcyouthcouncil@gmail.com.