State Farm®

Presenting Sponsor: Global Youth Service Day, Semester of Service

Program Sponsor: State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants, Youth Service Institute

The Walt Disney Company

Program Sponsor: Disney Friends for Change Grants

UnitedHealth Group

Program Sponsor: UnitedHealth HEROES Grants

Sodexo Foundation

Program Sponsor: Sodexo Lead Organizer Grants, Sodexo Youth Grants, Sodexo School Engagement

Grants

Learn and Serve America (Corporation for National and Community Service)

Program Sponsor: STEMester of Service Grants

Corporation for National and Community Service / Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

Program Sponsor: MLK-Semester of Service Lead Organizer Grants

National Education Association

Program Sponsor: Youth Leaders for Literacy Grants

Special Olympics

Program Sponsor: Special Olympics Get Into It Grants

National Partner Highlights View a full list of National Partners at www.YSA.org/partners/national

After-School All-Stars

Serving nearly 81,000 children in need on over 450 school sites in 12 different cities from New York City to

Honolulu, After-School All-Stars incorporates academic support, enrichment opportunities, and health

and fitness activities into their after-school programs. For Global Youth Service Day, three of their

chapters (Bay Area, San Diego, and Las Vegas) served as Lead Agencies and another (Columbus)

received a State Farm Good-Neighbor Service-Learning grant. Together, After-School All-Stars chapters

engaged over 1,000 youth on Global Youth Service Day in service projects.

Project Highlights:

After-School All-Stars Las Vegas - After-School All-Stars Las Vegas partnered with Special Olympics of

Nevada and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Athletics to celebrate GYSD. UNLV Athletes led a

series of sports stations to teach students about the importance of physical activity and

health/nutrition. Meals for the students were provided by Three Square, a local food bank.

After-School All-Stars San Diego - After-School All-Stars San Diego held projects that included creating

community urban gardens, with the produce donated to a local food bank, cleaning up the coastlines

since the budget cuts have left a number of beaches neglected, helping refugees maintain food stability,

organizing sports and nutrition clinics in low income neighborhoods, interacting with elders, and

starting a literacy program with the collection of books.

Job Corps

Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps young people learn a career, earn a high

school diploma or GED, and find and keep a good job. For eligible young people at least 16 years of age

that qualify as low income, Job Corps provides the all-around skills needed to succeed in a career and in

life. For GYSD, Job Corps organized 8,447 students and 1,507 staff members to volunteer in service

projects, bringing to the total number of participants to 9,939.

Project Highlights:

The Philadelphia Job Corps Life Science Institute (PJCLSI) - Students had the opportunity to collaborate

with other vocational training program students and community volunteers including the Philadelphia

Police Explorers Club, Mastery Charter High School, and Prep Charter High School. Additionally, more

than 40 hospitals, Philadelphia EMS, Office of Emergency Management, government agencies, and other

healthcare entities to actively participate in a drill portraying casualties affected with everything from

heart attacks to blast and gunshot wounds, assisting the hospitals with preparing for actual disasters

that may impact the U.S. in the future. The value of this approach is to identify specific weaknesses for

improvement and to promote continuing efforts to strengthen hospital disaster preparedness.

Weber Basin Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center – Working with Park City, this Job Corps center has

been active in its activities to improve the McCloud Creek watershed for the past 10 years now. Students

have planted over 4,000 trees, spread 1,500 pounds of grass seed and collected numerous amounts of

garbage. Water from this watershed benefits thousands of people throughout the state.

J-Serve

J-Serve is the National Day of Jewish Youth Service. Since 2005, J-Serve has participated in GYSD as part

of their day of service. J-Serve provides teens with the opportunity to fulfill the Jewish values of gemilut

chasidim, acts of loving kindness, tzedakah, just and charitable giving, and tikkum olam, the

responsibility to repair the world. Across the globe, teens joined each other to make their community

and the world a better place. Over 100 events across the United States occurred on GYSD through J-

Serve.

Project Highlights

J-Serve 2011 Baltimore - Jewish teens from all over the Baltimore metropolitan area came together on

April 10, 2011 to address issues they saw in their community. The day of service included seven options

for teens to choose from, directly affecting causes like homelessness, hunger, the environment, children

with special needs, and many more. Over 76 youth participated in this regional event.

NoVA J-Serve 2011 - The NoVA Council BBYO held an overnight event on April 9th and 10th to address the

topics of homelessness and poverty. Teens held a special havdallah service on homelessness, followed

by programming on poverty in Washington, DC. On the morning of April 10th, teens joined the National

Coalition for the Homeless on an Outreach Run, bringing donations to the homeless in Washington, DC.

Over 20 youth participated in this event and engaged numerous other community members in their

fundraising efforts.

H2O for Life

H20 for Life connects schools in the United States with schools in developing countries to complete

WASH (WAter, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in Schools projects. A nonprofit, all-volunteer organization run

by teachers, parents, and students, H20 for Life aims to help students build an allegiance to and an

understanding of their partner school through curriculum and experiential learning while raising funds

for WASH in Schools projects. In 2011, H2O for Life held their Walk for Water events to celebrate Global

Youth Service Day.

Project Highlights

Target Field, Minnesota – Participants in Minnesota turned out to raise awareness of water issues

around the world, despite the two inches of snow on the ground and 40 degree weather. Partners

provided containers of water for participants to carry on their walks so they can experience the hardship

of transporting water manually, something millions of people deal with worldwide.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) is one of the largest college fraternities by total initiates, with more than

300,000 initiated members and more than 11,800 undergraduates at 224 chapters and 17 colonies in 49

states and provinces at present. Each year, SAE participates in Global Youth Service Day as a part of

their True Gentleman Day of Service. This year, 38 chapters across 21 states participated, engaging

thousands of people in service projects.

Project Highlights

Connecticut Beta Chapter – Sigma Alpha Epsilon led a campus-wide cleanup effort in their community

for Global Youth Service Day. A constant source of complaint from the citizens of Mansfield and the

University of Connecticut is the road that lies about a half mile off campus called Hunting Lodge Road.

This road is home to hundreds of students and families alike, and gets constant usage by students,

faculty and residents. This leaves the road and its sidewalks polluted and covered with garbage after a

long winter of snow and salt. By spearheading the effort, Sigma Alpha Epsilon-Connecticut Beta

improved relations with citizens and served their host community.

Virginia Kappa Colony - The members of the Virginia Kappa Colony partnered with members of Gamma

Phi Beta to host an Easter egg hunt for collegiate faculty children and community families. It allowed

the Colony to reach out to the Williamsburg community and give back to those who have hosted

fraternity members in their city and provided a fun way to serve not only the adults, but the youth as

well.

City Year

City Year is an education-focused nonprofit AmeriCorps organization that unites young people of all

backgrounds for a year of full-time service to keep students in school and on track to graduation. At City

Year’s 21 locations across the United States and at its international affiliates in Johannesburg, South

Africa and London, England, teams of diverse young people called Corps Members serve full-time in

schools for 10 months working to improve student attendance, behavior and course performance in

English and math. In 2011, Chicago, New Hampshire, and San Antonio served as Lead Agencies, and their

approximately 2,000 Corps Members engaged thousands of youth at their sites.

Youth Volunteer Corps of America

Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) is a nonprofit promoting a lifetime commitment to service among youth by

providing quality service projects for young people. For over 20 years, YVC has engaged over 240,000

young people from diverse backgrounds in year-round service projects. Based in Kansas City, KS, YVC

has about 50 programs across the United States and Canada. Local Youth Volunteer Corps include four

Lead Agencies (Volunteer Southern Arizona, HandsOn Miami, Volunteer Macon, and the Youth Volunteer

Corps of America main office).

Project Highlights

Volunteer Southern Arizona - The Youth Service and Leadership Coalition partnered with Skrappy's

Youth Center to host 100 youth volunteers on GYSD. Youth volunteers helped improve, clean, organize,

and create art to improve the space that thousands of youth come to a year. All volunteers were

recognized through a celebration held at Skrappy's.

HandsOn Miami – HandsOn Miami's Youth Volunteer Corps and Youth Advisory Council hosted three

service projects throughout Miami-Dade County in celebration of Global Youth Service Day. All these

large scale projects were managed by youth and incorporated environmental or community renewal

elements and benefitted all citizens.

Global Partner Highlights See a full list of Global Partners at www.YSA.org/partners/global

People to People International

Since its creation in 1956, PTPI works to enhance international understanding and friendship through

educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities directly involving people of different countries and

diverse cultures. This year, PTPI Student Chapters from five countries organized 0ver 70 Global Youth

Service Day projects, engaging 7,647 chapter members and young volunteers.

Project Highlights:

• Youth volunteers from the Trbovlje, Slovenia Chapter of People to People International

considered the impact of being an industrial city with heavy industry, and decided to work to

address issues of environmental pollution to counteract the challenges posed by this local

economic activity. They focused their efforts on a city park that serves as a popular hang out

spot for Slovenian youth. These young volunteers cleaned and re-painted frog shaped trash cans

in creative ways that would draw attention to these places for proper garbage disposal.

• Youth volunteers set out to mobilize thousands of people in the Lome community to undertake

community clean up projects and learn about environmental issues. As part of this endeavor,

members of this People to People International Lome, Togo chapter helped highlight the

importance of tree planting as an environmental protection, promoted healthy sanitation

practices, and worked to involve Government officials in the project. This project spread the

word about maintaining clean communities through proper and environmentally friendly

sanitation practices. The work of these youth inspired the attention of local media, including

Television Togolese (TVT), Radio Lome and Togolese Agent for Press (ATOP). A representative of

the Minister of Arts and Culture spoke during the conference and recognized these youth

volunteers for the impact that they are making in the community through their selfless acts of

service.

• The "Kyivites", members of the People to People International Kharkiv, Ukraine Student

Chapter, and the "Futuremakers", members of the University Chapter, decided to organize a

joint project to support children who live at the Board School for orphans. 20 youth volunteered

to help residents of the orphanage clean and decorate their rooms and make some repairs to

furniture. Youth participants also played games and made toys with the younger children, and

as an end of the day celebration, they baked pies together and hosted a tea party.

Peace Corps

Peace Corps volunteers Amy King, of Merrimack, N.H., and Kate Knisley, of Columbus, Ohio, organized a

community environmental service project in Azerbaijan on April 17, 2011 for Global Youth Service Day

(April 15-17). Seventy students collected more than 70 lbs. of trash around a local school and built 20

birdhouses to foster biodiversity and help with pest control. Students also planted flowers and created

re-usable grocery bags to encourage recycling and conservation.

Peace Corps volunteers in the Philippines planted 12,000 mangrove trees and organized a coastal

cleanup with local youth as part of two Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17) activities. More than five

percent of Peace Corps volunteers work primarily in youth development and 13 percent work primarily

on environmental projects. Peace Corps volunteers Leah Eggers of Brooklyn Park, Minn., and Claire Pelley

of Chico, Calif., joined local youth, community members, and other Peace Corps volunteers to plant

12,000 mangrove seedlings and collect trash on the beach in Cebu province. Mangrove trees help

prevent erosion and mitigate tropical storm damage. They will also contribute to the increase of the

local fish population, which greatly benefits the more than 200 fishermen. During the event, volunteers

Eggers and Pelley taught an interactive presentation on protecting marine life, and led activities to

teach students about the environment.

Fundacion Inti Nan, in collaboration with a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer and a Disney Friends for Change

grant, organized a GYSD project to address the issue of water safety and the importance of native plant

species in San Bernardo a small, indigenous community in the highlands of Ecuador. In this village, 500

families suffer from a lack of water, an abundance of invasive eucalyptus trees, and poor soil fertility.

The community youth decided to organize a tree removal campaign in commemoration of Global Youth

Service Day and for every eucalyptus tree the removed, they planted a native tree species. Volunteers

removed around 100 eucalyptus trees from a specific area in the community and planted 100 native

trees to help reforestation the area. The youth also constructed dry bathrooms using the wood for

infrastructure and wood shards to reduce the bathroom smell and help speed the composting process.

Dry toilets do not need water to function, are environmentally safe and friendly, and allow nutrients in

human feces to return to the soil as fertilizer, which will reduce the community's water toilet

consumption by 65% and increase the use of water for drinking, cooking and washing. The human waste

compost would be used for home and school gardens. Volunteers also built 10 dry bathrooms as a pilot

program for the community. Over 50 youth volunteers participated in this project.

Boy Scouts and Girl Guides/Girl Scouts

The Guias y Scouts (Boy and Girl Scouts) of La Guaria, with the support of a Disney Friends for Change

grant, encouraged their community to mobilize support for a cleaner and greener community. These

youth celebrated GYSD and the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts at their community plaza. They also

celebrated the installation and decoration of La Guaria's first public garbage cans in this community

space and mobilized volunteers to participate in a plaza clean-up. 5 troupe leaders accompanied 18 Boy

and Girl Scouts door to door in their community of 3,000 residents and distributed literature on the

hazards of pollution and burning of trash. The group followed this up by cleaning the plaza and then,

together with the Sport's Committee leaders and youth baseball team players, installed and decorated

the first four of what will be nine public garbage cans in the center of town. These volunteers hosted a

community event in celebration of Earth Day and GYSD to highlight local issues with water quality, the

Scout's garbage project, and to engage the community in healthy recreational activities in a newly

cleaned plaza. Over 50 youth and parents attended the event. The Scouts also planted nearly 60 new

trees in a deforested area behind their town.

Members of the Egyptian Federation of Scouts in Cairo organized a youth initiative campaign to raise

awareness on the importance of donating blood. These youth shared information about local blood

drives with other youth community members and tried to encourage young people to be regular blood

donors.

300 members of the Russian Association of Girl Scouts organized a series of trainings targeting public

awareness toward the problem of still water. In addition, the Girl Scouts organized clean ups of local

ponds, riverbanks, and common recreational areas.

Service for Peace

In honor of Global Youth Service Day, hundreds of Service for Peace volunteers participated in service

projects in their communities.

In Kenya, 30 volunteers lead 150 community members in Community Family Day and the creation of a

community garden at Kawangware Children’s Home. The Project focused on Children’s Garden Home

and School in Dagoretti which established a partnership with Service for Peace-Kenya. Among those who

joined included a field agriculturalist, who provided some tips on the creation of a community garden,

as well as how to plant and maintain the crops in good conditions. Mathare Youth Sports Association

(MYSA) donated the tools for the gardening and young volunteers of Rotaract donated their time to

support the project. “The community garden project allows vulnerable communities cultivate their own

food to improve their nutrition and food security,” Becky Gitonga, the director of Service For Peace in

Kenya, explained. To culminate the three days of community service, Service For Peace members and

volunteers joined in the Sunday service at the Children’s Garden Home and School.

In Brazil, with the support of Service for Peace Brazil, Disney Friends of Change, and their partners,

youth participants took on the issues of hunger and poverty. Through the successful development of an

organic vegetable garden, 14 young volunteers helped improve the lives of 200 community residents,

including their own caregivers and families. This group of young people, which included ten youth not

traditionally asked to serve, was empowered by the opportunity to actively experience how it can play

principal roles in transforming circumstances. The youths’ efforts were recognized by the Mayor of

Gama who intends to be a continued supporter of this initiative.

“The community is very excited with the new organic vegetable garden and it wants the project

[to] continue with the support of Service For Peace and its partners, they know they need

support to overcome the poverty and they are very hopeful about the national and international

support; after the event their self [esteem] went up and they are very proud of their children

who are taking responsibility”. – Service for Peace Brazil Disney Friends for Change Project

Organizer

In Honduras, community volunteers in the Community of Peace of Nuevas Flores collected garbage and

educated community members on the importance of keeping their community clean.

Service for Peace Guatemala hosted free therapy sessions for caregivers of children with special needs.

The event was organized by Service for Peace and student volunteers who are studying physical therapy

at the Mariano Gálvez University in Guatemala.

In Nicaragua, Service for Peace volunteers planted trees and created a community vegetable garden at

Martha Susana Gutiérrez Primary School in the Comarca Samaria community and Villa Carlos Fonseca

municipality.

Watch President Clinton’s GYSD keynote at

www.YSA.org/GYSD/2011/clinton

Watch Miss America on Fox & Friends at

www.YSA.org/GYSD/2011/missamerica

and NY1 WPIX-TV at http://bit.ly/MissAmericaGYSD2011

Global Youth Service Day stories appeared in the following media outlets:

Magazines

Alaska Business Monthly

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Business Week (NY)

Children and Young People Now

Enterprise (Salt Lake City, UT)

Flagpole (Athens, GA)

Journal: Colts Neck (Navesink, NJ)

MPLS St. Paul (MN)

NEA Today

San Diego Family Magazine

The OC Gazette

TIME for Kids

Toledo Area Parent (OH)

Treasure Valley Family (Boise, ID)

USA Today

Newspapers

Advocate

AHHerald (NJ)

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)

Amityville Record (NYC Market Area)

Anchorage Daily News (AK)

Andover Townsman (MA)

Antelope Valley Press (Palmdale, CA)

Arizona Daily Star

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Athens Banner Herald (GA)

Atlanta Journal Constitution (GA)

Atlantic Herald

Beacon (Babylon, NY)

Billings Gazette (MT)

Bozeman Daily Chronicle (MT)

Bulletin (Norwich, CT)

Burlington County Times (NJ)

Business Journal Daily

Cache Valley Daily

Calais Advertiser (ME)

Cape May Star and Wave

Capital Business (Washington DC)

Capital City Weekly (Alaska)

Cassville Democrat (Missouri)

Cecil Whig (Elkton, MD)

Centre (PA)

Chicago Tribune

Citizen Tribune (Morristown, TN)

Claremore Daily Progress

Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Contra Costa Times (CA)

Cuyahoga Falls News Press (Stow, OH)

Daily Globe (Worthington, MN)

Daily Herald

Daily Item (Sunbury, PA)

Daily Journal (Vineland, NJ)

Daily Non-Pereil (Council Bluffs, IA)

Daily Progress (Claremore, OK)

Daily Reflector (Greenville, NC)

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Des Moines Register (IA)

Detroit Jewish News

El Paso Times

EMU Eagles

Evening Leader

Examiner: City Edition (San Francisco, CA)

Fairfax Times

Faribault Daily News

FDL Reporter (Fond-du-Lac, WI)

Filipino Reporter (NY)

Fond du Lac Reporter

Fort Collins Coloradoan

Fort Monroe Casemate (Norfolk, VA)

Frederick News Post

Galveston County The Daily News (TX)

Gazette Extra

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NY1.com

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yourlife.usatoday.com

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Radio

929 Dave Radio

KSKA 91.1 (Alaska)

WCSM radio (Grand Lake)

Television

10:00 Report (Great Falls, MT)

11 news on KHSL (Chico/Redding, CA)

12 News at 5 PM (Clarksburg/Weston, WV)

12 News this Morning (Milwaukee, WI)

13 News at Noon (Norfolk/Portsmouth, VA)

2 news at 5 (Dayton, OH)

6:00 News ABC 4 (Charleston SC)

6:30 weekend Report on KHSL (Chico/Redding, CA)

7 Eyewitness News (Jackson TN)

7 Eyewitness News at 6 (Jackson TN)

7:00 News ABC 4 (Charleston SC)

8 News Now at 11pm (Las Vegas, NV)

8 News Now Weekend Edition (Las Vegas, NV)

ABC 22

ABC 27

ABC 7 News at 11 (Washington DC)

ABC News Channel 2 (Dayton, OH)

Action News at 5 am (Las Vegas, NV)

ADA Evening News

AM Northwest (Portland, OR)

CBS 11 News at 6 (Dallas, TX)

Channel 27 News at 5 (Madison, WI)

Channel 27 News at 6 (Madison, WI)

Channel 27 News at 6:30 (Madison, WI)

ChicagoLand News at 10

CLTV Late Night News (Chicago, IL)

CW 11 Morning News (New York, NY)

CW 11 Morning News at 6 (New York, NY )

Eyewitness News at 10 (Duluth/Superior, MN)

Eyewitness News at 5 (Duluth/Superior, MN)

Eyewitness News at 6 (Duluth/Superior, MN)

Fox & Friends (National)

Fox 13 News at 5 (Memphis, TN)

Fox 16 News (Little Rock, AR)

Fox 2 News Morning (Detroit, MI)

Fox 21 News (Duluth/Superior, MN)

Fox 21 News at 6 (Duluth/Superior, MN)

Fox 26 Morning News (Houston, TX)

Fox 4 at 5 (Kansas City, MO)

Fox 4 at noon (Kansas City, MO)

Fox 4 News Morning Show (Kansas City, MO)

Fox 45 Dayton's News Source

Fox 59 Morning News (Indianapolis, IN)

Fox 66 News at Ten (Flint/ Saginaw/ Bay City, MI)

Fox 7 News at 9 (Evansville, IN)

Fox news 5 at 10 (Las Vegas, NV)

GMA News

Good Morning Memphis (TN)

Good Morning New Orleans (LA)

Good Morning Northland (Duluth, MN)

Good Morning West Tennessee (Jackson, MS)

In Business Las Vegas

KAJ 18 (Montana)

KFDA NewsChannel 10 (Amarillo, TX)

KHQ News 6PM (Spokane, WA)

KTHV-TV

Live in Las Vegas

Local 8 at 5:30 AM (San Diego, CA)

Local 8 at 6 AM (San Diego, CA)

Local 8 Weekend (San Diego, CA)

NBC 33 News Morning Edition (Baton Rouge, LA)

NBC 33 News Weekend Edition (Baton Rouge, LA)

NBC News Channel 11 Early Edition (Yuma/ El Centro,

AZ)

NBC News Channel 11 Evening Report (Yuma/ El Centro,

AZ)

NBC News Channel 11 Nightside (Yuma/ El Centro, AZ)

NCN News (Chico/Redding, CA)

News 10 (Albany, NY)

News 10 at 6 am (Albany, NY)

News 13 at Noon (Tucson, AZ)

News 13 at Six (Tucson, AZ)

News 13 at Ten (Tucson, AZ)

News 13 ay 5:30 (Tucson, AZ)

News 2 Weekend Edition (North Platte, MN)

News 25 at 6 (Peoria/ Bloomington, IL)

News 25 Today (Peoria/Bloomington, IL )

News 3 Your Source

News 4 at Ten (Tucson, AZ)

News 6 at Six (Duluth/Superior, MN)

News 8 Daybreak (Dallas, TX)

News Channel 5 (Great Falls, MT)

News Channel 5 at 6 (Great Falls, MT)

News Ten at 5 (Albany, NY)

Northland's News Center (MN)

NY1 - New York City

Our Blue Ridge (Roanoke/ Lynchburg, VA)

Pronews (Amarillo, TX)

TBD News (Washington DC)

The 10:00 News (Butte/Bozeman MT)

The Ten O'Clock News (Great Falls, MT)

Today in Iowa at 5 am

Trib Live News (Pittsburgh, PA)

Wake Up on KHSL (Chico/Redding, CA)

WD TV Channel 5 News

WDTN (NBC) Channel 2 News

WNEM 5 News at 5 (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, MI)

WPIX (New York, NY)

WPXI (Pittsburgh, PA)

Today's THV

WNEM 5 News at Noon (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, MI)

WNEM 5 Wake Up (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, MI)

News 7 Sunday Morning (Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA)

Scale

Total number of youth volunteers – 13,096

Diversity

Race/Ethnicity

African-American – 26%

Asian American – 5%

Latino/Hispanic – 14%

Native American – 2%

Caucasian – 48%

Other/Not Reported – 5%

Gender

Male – 41%

Female – 59%

Age

Ages 5-12 – 38%

Ages 13-18 – 43%

Ages 19-25 – 12%

Ages 26+ – 7%

Youth not traditionally asked to serve

Low-Income – 52%

Youth with Disabilities – 5%

Youth in Foster Care – 2%

Youth in Justice System – 2%

Other – 15%

Impact on Youth

Through the State Farm Good Neighbor Grant projects:

49% of students increased their attendance.

77% of students increased their motivation.

84% of students increased their knowledge of a community issue.

76% of students improved their communication skills.

72% of students increased their problem-solving skills.

84% of students increased their teamwork skills.

75% of students increased their responsibility.

Lincoln IB World School - Fort Collins, CO: Students demonstrated teamwork each day because they

were in groups that were in charge of a particular vegetable seedling start. They showed their great

responsibility for the plants in coming in at different times during the day to check on them, Each time I

ran into someone in the community and talked about the project, they mentioned that they were proud

to have students actively engaged in solving community problems.

Impact on Community

Total volunteer hours contributed = 199,378

Total number of people served = 86,185

Success Story

Project: VISION, Inc. - Chicago, IL: “Youth enhanced not only their own knowledge about tobacco use in

the community; they were able to promote awareness for these issues in the community. Many youth

were surprised by the lack of knowledge about the harms of tobacco use among their peers and even

adults in the community. Also the Operation Storefront activity opened their eyes to how inappropriate

advertising of tobacco products can indeed affect youth in the community. By speaking with local store

owners and urging them to be more responsible for tobacco product placement and marketing, youth

were able to build communication and well as problem solving skills. In addition, teamwork was an

essential part of the implementation of the final photovoice gallery project. Teams of 4-5 youth worked

together to compose and shoot meaningful photos, edit photos, create captions, as well as create

educational fliers and posters to help educated the community.”

Lead Agency & MLK Lead Organizer Overview

2011

Number of GYSD Volunteers 124,357

Age 5-12 30%

Age 13-18 42%

Age 19-25 19%

Age 26+ 9%

Male 45%

Female 55%

African-American 20%

Asian-American / Pacific Islander 3.5%

Caucasian 59%

Latino/Hispanic 12%

Native American 3.5%

Other Race/Ethnicity 2%

Youth from Low Income Families 28%

Youth in foster care !%

Youth in justice system 2%

Youth with disabilities 2%

Other youth not traditionally asked to serve 3%

Agree or Strongly Agree:

Content / knowledge learned 90%

Increased engagement in learning 79%

Strengthened workforce skills 85%

Improved personal development (social,

emotional, behavioral)

84%

Increased commitment to civic engagement 48%

Total Hours Served 668,023

Average Hours Per Volunteer 5.3

Number of People Benefited 564,453

Number of Media Stories (print, radio, TV) 371

Number of Elected Officials Engaged 914

Number of Partner Organizations 3,736

Lead Agency Highlights

Among the 92 Lead Agencies and Lead Organizers were several state service commissions, national

service programs, and Cities of Service. They included:

Oregon Volunteers

Oregon Volunteers launched two mini-grant programs, Fostering Inclusion and Community. Fostering

Inclusion supported projects that are inclusive of people of all abilities, and Community was a program

open to any youth or community organizations wanting to develop GYSD projects.

Montana Governor’s Office of Community Service

The Montana Governor’s Office of Community Service also had multiple mini-grants available.

Montana’s focused on encouraging more service projects in rural areas.

Serve Nebraska

With a number of mini-grants for youth-led projects and their youth council, Serve Nebraska ensured

youth voice was prominent in their GYSD. In addition to working with AmeriCorps members across the

state, Serve Nebraska engaged the extensive network of HandsOn affiliates in the state to bring the

opportunity to serve to more communities.

Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service

Iowa’s service commission distributed mini-grants to young project organizers to plan and implement

service events across the state on GYSD. The commission engaged over 2,000 youth this year in

beautification projects, food drives, and other community-specific projects.

Michigan Community Service Commission

The Michigan Community Service Commission coordinated statewide service projects with the help of

their Service-Learning Youth Council. In addition to working with organizers for Earth Day projects to

focus on the environment, they again participated in Adopt-A-River campaign, cleaning rivers and

waterways in various parts of Michigan.

Louisiana Serve Commission

The state service commission for Louisiana awarded six grants to three school districts and three

nonprofits partnering with public schools to organize service projects on GYSD. Applicants were asked

to focus on the environment for the day. In addition to working at the state level, LSC has reached out to

Baton Rouge’s Chief Service Officer, Blythe Daigle, to promote the opportunity with her network.

America Reads Mississippi

America Reads Mississippi engaged their 89 Junior Citizens Corps Clubs in service projects on GYSD.

While their primary focus was emergency preparedness and community safety, the Clubs also worked

on projects promoting literacy, the environment, and other community issues.

City Year New Hampshire

Corps members in New Hampshire worked with all of their school sites in Manchester on GYSD to serve

by preparing renovation projects at various sites and conducting food drives. All projects were

developed by students working alongside AmeriCorps members as team leaders.

Minnesota Alliance With Youth

The AmeriCorps Promise Fellows hosted by Minnesota Alliance With Youth organized their GYSD kick off

celebration at the Mall of America Best Buy Rotunda. The event included on-site service projects and an

award ceremony sponsored by Delta Dental, honoring outstanding youth leadership in service.

True North AmeriCorps

YMCA’s True North AmeriCorps, the City of Duluth, the Minnesota Education Corps, and the Duluth

Public Schools Office of Service Learning teamed up to celebrate Global Youth Service Day. The signature

project was the beautification of Enger Park. Youth picked up trash, brushed trails, raked leaves,

removed buckthorn, and were trained to spot emerald ash borer and gypsy moths.

City of Little Rock

Little Rock’s GYSD kick off event was a youth forum, held at the Clinton Presidential Library, followed by

service projects. Organized by the Clinton Presidential Foundation, the Alliance for a Healthier

Generation, and a number of schools, nonprofits, and businesses, the event engaged 3,000 attendees.

NYC Service

NYC Service, the mayor’s office on volunteerism, partnered with Up2Us to host the Service Through

Sports summit on April 16. The summit gathered student athletic teams and provided youth

participants with leadership development and service-learning training through hands on service

projects.

MLK Day – Semester of Service Lead Organizer Highlights

Neighborhood Leadership Institute – Cleveland, OH

Students from Neighborhood Leadership Institute after-school programs in Cleveland, Ohio hosted 15

“fireside chats” in neighborhood centers throughout Cleveland on MLK Day. These community dialogues

were led by youth, and engaged community members of all ages. As part of each dialogue, participants

identified the top challenges in each neighborhood and designed a plan for students to lead efforts to

address these issues throughout their Semester of Service.

YMCA of Greater Cincinnati

On MLK Day, students from around Cincinnati led a service project in Fountain Square, packing food

bags for youth in after-school programs who need food at home over the weekends when they are not at

school or in after-school programs. The next day, the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati hosted a youth

leadership forum for students from 5 area high schools to kick-off a Semester of Service utilizing Fulfill

the Dream, a leadership development curriculum that uses media, movement, and music to develop

leadership, relationship, and citizenship skills. Each student participating the program developed and

implemented a culminating service project for Global Youth Service Day.

Ohio Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America

Ohio FCCLA chapters kicked off a Semester of Service focused on childhood obesity. The Anna High

School FCCLA chapter organized a fitness event for their school and community while the Fort Loramie

FCCLA chapter organized a “Drink MILK on MLK Day,” in partnership with the National Dairy Council and

the National Football League’s “Fuel Up to Play 60” campaign.

Program Overview

UnitedHealth HEROES is a service-learning, health literacy initiative designed to encourage young

people, working through educators and youth leaders, to create and implement local hands-on

programs to address the issue of childhood obesity.

Program History

Microfinance grants of up to $1,000 each were awarded to programs that demonstrated a clear

understanding of the health risks associated with childhood obesity; proposed creative solutions to

combating obesity in their schools and communities; and could be easily implemented, scaled and

measured.

• 2008-2009: 100 grants were awarded to schools and youth-focused, community center-based

programs in 15 states.

• 2009-2010: 261 grants were offered and awarded in 35 states plus the District of Columbia.

• 2010-2011: 333 grants were offered and awarded in 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Scale

Through this program:

• 39,309 youth volunteers were engaged.

• 179,697 people were served.

• 515,361 volunteer hours were contributed.

Impact

94% of grantees submitted post-project summaries. Through the HEROES project:

• 49% of students increased their attendance.

• 81% of students increased their motivation.

• 69% of students increased their knowledge of childhood obesity.

• 67% of students improved their communication skills.

• 64% of students increased their problem-solving skills.

• 69% of students increased their teamwork skills.

• 80% of students increased their responsibility.

Media

“HEROES” generated more than 600 media placements via television, radio, print, and online media as

well as social networking and blogs.

• Miss America 2011 highlighted a NY-based grantee on the national morning show, “Fox and

Friends.

• ESPN highlighted the program at University of Florida.

Sodexo Lead Organizer Highlights

HandsOn Newton

HandsOn Newton worked with 3 higher education institutions in Covington and Atlanta. GYSD activities

included a meal-packaging program at Emory University; reflection and discussion with Emory faculty

about engaging students in this issue; and kicking off community gardening program for the summer

Washington & Jefferson College

W&J hired 7 students to serve as hunger task force student leaders to lead a new task force to educate

and engage peers in trainings and service projects. At least 100 W&J students served at one of 6 sites:

the Greater Washington County Foodbank, 3 smaller pantry projects, and 2 city mission food kitchen the

week of GYSD.

Earth Care

On GYSD, Earth Care worked with City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Public Schools and Roots and Shoots at a

project at the Santa Fe Community Farm, which donates all food to local schools and food banks.

They also organized a celebration at elementary school, distributing information about childhood

hunger and helping students plant seedlings to start home gardens.

Sodexo Youth Grants

Program Overview

Sodexo Youth Grants is a service and hunger initiative designed to encourage young people, working

through educators, youth leaders, and Sodexo employees to create and implement local hands-on

programs to address an established food insecurity need in the applicant's school or community.

Offered through all 50 states, 25 grants were awarded at $500.

Sodexo Youth Grants delivered the following measurable results:

Scale

Through this program:

• 1,233 youth volunteers were engaged.

• 17,745 people were served.

Impact

88% of grantees submitted post-project summaries. Through the Sodexo Youth Grants projects:

• 19,208 food items collected and donated.

• 4,609 individuals received emergency food from community kitchens or food banks.

• 4,159 individuals received nutrition education.

• 15 community gardens were created.

• 27 immigrant or refugee individuals received assistance or services.

• 49 orphaned, homeless, or street youth received assistance or services.

• 165 items collected and donated (clothes, household supplies, toiletries, etc.)

• 238 individuals received financial literacy training and/or services.

Media

• Sodexo Youth Grants generated 29 media hits in national and regional publications including

The Washington Post, The Hartford Courant, The Omaha Star, Health and Medicine Week, The

Daily Record, Capital Business, and Earth Times.

• Sodexo Youth Grants had 35,889,344 media impressions and nearly 35 million readers were

reached. Coverage included print and online media as well as social networking such as blogs,

Facebook and Twitter

Disney Friends for Change funds youth-led community projects that create environmental changes

around issues of waste, habitat, climate, and water. The projects which are organized as part of Global

Youth Service Day – the largest service event in the world – serve as vehicles for young people to take on

leadership roles in conservation efforts, bring creativity and innovation to solving problems, and sustain

their volunteer participation to solve problems. Through the Disney-YSA partnership this year Friends

for Change awarded 60 $500 grants to projects in 28 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean,

Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, South East Asia, and the United States.

Scale

Through this program:

• 8,289 youth volunteers were engaged.

• 111,443 people were served.

Impact on Community

Through Disney Friends for Change projects:

• 184 sites were cleaned, beautified, and/or painted

• 265 murals were painted

• 117 energy audits performed

• 45 structures were weatherized

• 287 acres of national or state parks, or other public lands, were cleaned

• 10,709 trees were planted

• 1,231 animals were protected

• 127 acres of wilderness preserved, protected, or created

• 12 rain gardens were built

• 6,034 square miles of rivers, lakes, or other waterways were cleaned or improved

• 279 tons of materials were collected and/or recycled

• 32,774 individuals were educated or trained in environmentally-conscious practices

Sustainability

• 96% of respondents stated that their project would continue, be repeated or replicated.

Impact on Youth

Grantees were asked to describe major impacts of the service experience on the young volunteers. A

review of these narrative responses point to a number of key outcomes: increase in knowledge about

environmental and conservation issues; acquisition of job readiness skills (teamwork, goal-setting,

communication, partnership development, initiative); and increased awareness and confidence about

their own capacity to create change. Sample excerpts include:

• The project leaders and other youth gained relevant skills from our project including teamwork

and taking initiative. The project coordinator is 11 years old and before our project, many youth

of Tanzania thought that children under 18 years old can not make an initiatives like that. From

this project, children under 18 years old saw that they can think and realize a big initiative that

can save even the entire country of Tanzania, they created a confidence in them that will even

help Tanzania in future years. – Cyunya, Tanzania

• I feel that many of the participating students were able to see the benefits of forming

relationships among community organizations. The students experienced the value of

networking with individuals within organizations that are involved on projects together; that

communication is very important and that a teamwork approach to implementing projects is

much more effective than trying to do many things on your own. –Belene, Bulgaria

• The whole experience was great! I had never been part of anything like it before, maybe because

we youth never sort of bothered to do something instead of complaining about things. I

discovered that we can do so much more as a team that has a goal. It was a massive change

from the usually pessimistic me and the belief and encouragement from everyone involved got

us all to believe in ourselves in being able to make a difference. –Shenika from Moratuwa, Sri

Lanka

• As a volunteer on the project, I realized how important greenery is to city life for both the people

& environment. I understand how difficult it can be to maintain green growth in a city, and what

measures have to be taken to promote healthy trees & plants. The appreciation I have for

keeping green trees & plants healthy in urban areas is much greater! –Elizabeth from

Cincinnati, OH

The STEMester of Service program was evaluated by RMC Research. In the 2010-2011 academic year, a

total of 1,054 STEMester students and 349 comparison students in grades 6-8 completed matched pre-

and post-surveys.

STEMester student respondents came from 25 schools located in 10 different states plus Washington,

D.C.: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and

Washington. Comparison student respondents came from 11 schools located in Washington, D.C. and

the six states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, and Washington.

Key findings of RMC’s evaluation include:

STEMester service-learning students had statistically significant higher gains in academic

engagement, 21st century skills, interest in STEM courses and skills, and interest in STEM

careers than the comparison group. Comparison student scores decreased over time in the five

outcome areas related to academic engagement, academic competence, 21st

century skills, interest in

STEM courses and skills, and interest in STEM careers, while scores for service-learning students

increased over time in all seven outcome areas. Effect sizes were fairly small overall, but still relatively

large for the field of service-learning.

Teachers reported that service-learning impacted students in all measured outcome areas.

Perceived impacts were highest for students’ increased ability to work with others from diverse

backgrounds, to be engaged in school, to possess greater leadership skills, and to collaborate with

others. Fewer impacts were seen in the areas of improved school attendance and academic

performance.

STEMester students identified science, math, writing, and reading as areas in which they

acquired the most skills and experiences as a result of participating in service-learning. Science

and mathematics topped the list of areas in which students believed they had developed the most skills.

As the quality of service-learning programs increased, as reported by students, so did students’

ratings in all outcome areas. Higher student ratings of service-learning quality were associated with

increased ratings in all outcome areas being measured. The strongest relationships were between

student ratings of program quality and civic dispositions, 21st

century skills, and STEM measures.

Students’ ratings of academic engagement increased when teachers said they linked service-

learning with the curriculum, engaged students in meaningful service, provided youth voice,

and promoted an understanding of diversity and respect among all participants. Students also

had higher ratings of interest in STEM courses and skills as teacher ratings of youth voice increased, and

had higher ratings of interest in STEM careers when teacher ratings of promotion of diversity were

elevated.

Teacher ratings of duration and intensity were significantly related to student ratings of

academic engagement, civic dispositions, interest in STEM courses and skills, and interest in

STEM careers. As service-learning duration and intensity increased, so did students’ ratings for these

four outcome areas.

Community partners reported positive impacts on their organizations as a result of working

with schools that implemented service-learning projects. The partnerships were perceived to have

resulted in sustained or continued relationships with schools and a heightened public profile for the

organization within the community.

Community partners and teachers agreed that service-learning projects had positive impacts

on communities. Both groups reported that service-learning activities were beneficial for individuals,

community organizations, and communities as a whole. Teachers added that service-learning activities

positively changed the way community members view young people.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, STEMester students contributed a combined total of 45,274

hours of service. According to the Independent Sector, an organization which establishes the value of

volunteer time for nonprofit and governmental organizations, the current national average rate of value

is $21.36 an hour. By this measure, STEMester students contributed $967,053 worth of time to their

respective communities.

EASTERN EUROPE

In their first year serving as the Regional Partner for Eastern

Europe, the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program

alumni office in Moscow, Russia expanded the scale of Global

Youth Service Day in the region, inviting new partner

organizations and U.S. Government alumni to take part in

the GYSD campaign. The FLEX Alumni Office hosted a series

of webinars and put together online training materials for

potential project leaders to ensure that they had sufficient

training and the opportunity to share their ideas and develop their projects with American Councils staff

members.

FLEX Alumni Coordinators were required to organize a minimum of one GYSD in their region for the 2011

campaign. The coordinators were encouraged to work with other U.S. Government alumni, regional

partners, and U.S. Embassies, and the FLEX City Representative community of over 100 Eurasian FLEX

alumni volunteers to organize larger events involving more youth. In addition, the FLEX Alumni Office

reached out to alumni of different U.S. Government sponsored exchange programs to support their

project ideas and give them logistical support, trainings, and promotional materials to implement their

events.

The FLEX Alumni Program also offered FLEX alumni matching grants up to $500 to hold GYSD projects.

FLEX alumni organized outstanding events with youth in their communities for GYSD 2011 with the

financial backing of the grants program and with regular FLEX Alumni Program funds.

The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program is a program of the American Councils for International

Education, an organization that advances scholarly research and cross-border learning through the

design and implementation of educational programs since 1974. American Councils is a leading

American education and international training organization, administering over 30 exchange and

training programs, including U.S. government and non-U.S. national fellowship programs. The

organization develops partnership programs between individuals and institutions in the U.S. and the

countries of Eurasia and E. Europe, consults on project design and education innovation programs, and

actively contributes to the development of Eurasian language and area studies in the U.S. With

additional representation in over 30 countries, American Councils strives to expand dialog among

students, scholars, educators and professionals for the advancement of learning and mutual respect.

WESTERN EUROPE

2011 marks the UN International Year of Youth and the European Year of

Volunteering. The Foundation for Democratic Youth utilized these two

campaigns to launch the European Youth Service Day Initiative as part of

Global Youth Service Day 2011 celebrations. By launching European Youth

Service Day, DIA piloted a campaign that aims to create a better cohesion

among the different youth service organizations and events in the region, as

well as an annual European tradition.

!

DIA identified key Country Partners in various countries in Western Europe

and shared their experience and GYSD successes dating back to 2006 through the dissemination of a

biweekly newsletter to all key stakeholders and GYSD participants. The newsletter provided written

guidelines on all major topics including volunteer recruitment, communication, and GYSD project

registration. Additionally, DIA provided a high level of continued support through regular online

communication via Skype and email in order to provide partners with the highest level of coordination

support. !

!

On Global Youth Service Day 2011, the Foundation for Democratic Youth reported the most successful

GYSD in Hungarian GYSD history. DIA coordinated 211 projects throughout Hungary and engaged 31,000

Hungarian youth as service leaders and volunteers. GYSD projects focused mostly on the following

issues: environment protection and sustainability, healthy lifestyle, spring cleaning of parks, public

places, playgrounds, inside/outside renovation of buildings, planting, gardening, visiting the elderly,

children, and animal shelters. All of these projects were designed and executed by young people, with a

special emphasis placed on the emotional and professional training of the volunteers and preparations

for the post-project reflection and evaluations. DIA organized a central event in the capitol city

Budapest, hosting a running gala for visually impaired or otherwise disabled young people. With over

150 youth volunteers coordinating the event, the Gala aimed to provide an opportunity for young people

not traditionally asked to participate in sporting events the chance to do so and to provide the youth

volunteers the experience of working alongside peers with disabilities. The event was widely promoted

youth volunteerism. In the words of Harrison Amevi, “I am important to my country because I am a

good citizen.” The official GYSD launch ended with Nana Ama Agyeiwaa, winner of the 2010 Ghana's

Most Beautiful (cultural reality show) and Millennium Development Goals Ambassador, inspiring the

crowd to take action with the statistics and information she provided on Ghana’s environment and

steps the youth could take in volunteering to promote environmental sustainability and strengthen the

nation.

The official launch was followed by a clean-up exercise in a rural community in the outskirt of Kumasi,

Ghana – Pakyi No. 2. Along with Nana Ama Agyeiwaa, the children cleaned the town around their school

and engaged in a competition to see who could collect the most trash. These young people felt great

about volunteering in their community and one of Ghana’s leading news stations, TV3 was there to

highlight such positive youth-led development

At YPWC’s northern site, Global Youth Service Day celebration activities took place in Kinkangu of the

Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District. Young people were trained to control bushfires, initiated a clean-up

campaign and learned to nurse seeds and transplant seedlings. On the 15th

of April 2011, the youth of the

community gathered with the community leaders and YPWC Youth Action Ambassadors (YAAs) at the

Kingkangu Junior High School to engage in dialogue about community environmental issues. The youth

were excited about the chance to interact with the adults and expressed their general views about the

community. There was a collective training on bushfire prevention and the importance of countering the

growing deforestation and desertification problems. Mr. Gazeri Dujing, a community leader, concluded

the meeting by telling a story of unity’s ability to provoke development in a community. It told of birds

that decided to sing an African chant in unison (instead of their individual songs) so that farmers would

provide food for them. The Honorable Assemblyman Laar Sambian closed the first day’s activities by

expressing his gratitude for the charge young people took in helping to sustain their environment.

On the second day 16th

April 2011, a sanitation training was lead by YPWC Youth Action Ambassadors and

Action on Rural Child Development (ACRD) volunteer members and given to community members of all

ages. Immediately following, a clean-up Campaign took place at the Kingkangu Community Maternity

Centre and the local market.

YPWC’s Global Youth Service Day activities culminated with an educational, interactive exercise led by

YPWC Project Officer Matthew Nyannube Yosah and volunteers of YPWC. Young people were taught to

nurse seeds and transplant seedlings, with the additional help of Mr. Gazeri Dujing who is proficient in

nursing, transplanting and grafting of mango trees. Having participated in such activities, participants

were compelled to make promises to practice such environmental care on their own. These promises

emerged from the lessons of unity, practices of sanitation, and the knowledge about the importance of

stopping bushfires by not burning plants, bushes and cutting of trees without replacing new ones – all

acquired during GYSD.

Young People We Care is a registered youth-led, non-profit organization that advocates for sustainable

development, the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and the promotion of a culture of

peace and universal human rights for all. YPWC strives to provide a 'youthful voice' that seeks to

address the numerous challenges facing leaders of tomorrow by effectively using young resourceful

minds to influence the course of global policy formulation and development in a consistent and

harmonized manner. The mission of Young People We Care is to educate and inform youth about global

issues, inspire youth to take action, and identify and build sustainable partnerships aimed at youth

development. YPWC links a network of some 400 affiliate groups in 22 countries.

ASIA

In celebration of Global Youth Service Day 2011, the People’s Institute for

Development and Training (PIDT) incorporated GYSD service projects into the

year-long campaign celebration the International Year of Youth and as a lead up

to the International Decade of Volunteering. PIDT hosted a large public rally to

promote the perspectives and involvement of youth as contributors to national

policy and changemakers in addressing climate change. PIDT also organized a

large event called Volunteer Voices in collaboration with the United Nations

Volunteers and Team India ( IYV+10) to help lend a voice to young volunteers who

are creating projects and programs that have sustainable impacts on their

communities.

As the Regional Partner for Asia, PIDT participated in the International

Association for Volunteer Efforts (IAVE) World Conference on Volunteering in

Singapore in January of 2011 and led a workshop which highlighted Global Youth Service Day as a

benchmark day of service.

People’s Institute for Development and Training (PIDT) is an organization that works towards capacity

building of those who are marginalized and it has a rich history in grassroots action with communities

of the underprivileged in the rural areas of Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and

urban areas of New Delhi in India. PIDT actively engages youth as community leaders and directly

operates a school for 600 underprivileged children, as well as about 20 non-formal school centers

catering to poor and school drop outs. PIDT aims to develop an inclusive, egalitarian, co-operative and

analytical society where the social, developmental and environmental needs of all concerned are

adequately met.

YUVA Unstoppable celebrated Global Youth Service Day by hosting

an environmental film festival to educate Ahmedabad youth about

the need for environmental conservation and government policies

that promote sustainable development. YUVA Unstoppable also

organized a “Random Acts of Kindness” campaign to encourage

young volunteers throughout the Region to initiate their own service

projects to make their communities better places.

YUVA Unstoppable is a Premier Volunteer Movement with a work-force of 100,000 youngsters providing

man-power and resource support to 300+ NGOs and Municipal Schools across 32 cities of India. The

mission of YUVA Unstoppable is to make Young People kinder by providing them a platform to volunteer

in NGOs, Slums and Municipal Schools. Till date, YUVA Unstoppable has put-in more than 600,000

volunteer hours in service.

and well attended by local celebrities and dignitaries, including international opera singer Erika

Miklosa, who is also one of the Ambassadors of the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

DIA estimates that approximately 60,000 Hungarians benefited from the GYSD service projects carried

out during the weekend of Global Youth Service Day. This number takes into account the individuals who

were directly impacted by the projects, such as the children in a foster home or the citizens of a village

that was cleaned up, and the people who were reached through personal stories, such as the parents or

classmates of volunteers.

The Foundation for Democratic Youth (DIA) is a non-profit organization, whose mission is to create

opportunities for youth to develop democratic values and skills through experiential learning. In order

to achieve this, DIA is developing young people’s citizenship skills through community-based learning

in Hungary. DIA is currently implementing a variety of programs including the creation of a nation-wide

network of more than 200 volunteer youth groups, grant funding for volunteer youth groups, and

school-based programs promoting the culture of active citizenship through developing active

citizenship, and entrepreneurship skills.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

As GYSD Regional Partner for the Middle East and North Africa, AVS held a

three day Youth Forum as part of its IAVE Regional Volunteer Conference for

the Arab Nations, held March 27-29 in Beirut, Lebanon. 21 youth leaders from

key youth organizations participated from nine different Arab countries:

Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria,

and Yemen, including five organizing youth from Lebanon. The Forum

included discussions on the state of youth volunteering in the region,

training on what is volunteering, why volunteer, rights and responsibilities

of a volunteer, and how to plan and develop a volunteer project, as well as

training in how to use social media to engage volunteers and promote

volunteer opportunities. Participants were given special training related to Global Youth Service Day

and encouraged to involve their peers and networks in GYSD projects this year and beyond. The youth

also participated in a tree-planting project two weeks prior to GYSD. The Conference and its Youth

Forum had been scheduled for September 2010 which would have allowed more opportunity for

participants to organize GYSD in their own countries. The postponement of the conference meant that

participants had only two weeks after the end of the Forum to work on GYSD. Participants from Algeria,

Yemen, and Palestine, however did manage to do some projects. And the Forum participants, inspired

by GYSD, decided that they will launch GYSD-inspired campaign focused on youth volunteering in the

region in late July (which they call Shama’a, meaning “Candle”) rather than wait until GYSD next year.

As the Regional Partner for the Middle East and North Africa, AVS participated in the International

Association for Volunteer Efforts (IAVE) World Conference on Volunteering in Singapore in January of

2011 and led a workshop which highlighted Global Youth Service Day as a benchmark day of service.

The Association for Volunteer Services was established in 1998 to promote, facilitate, and improve

volunteering and community service throughout Lebanon and beyond. It has always been concerned

with the development of youth volunteering in the region. In 2006, AVS published the book Learning to

CARE: Education, Volunteering, and Community Service to help schools develop effective service

programs. In 2009, AVS released an Arabic edition of the book and this year hosted a training program

for country teams from 7 countries of the region: Mauritania, Tunisia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria,

Jordan, and Lebanon. AVS has been the Country Partner for Lebanon since 2001 and this is their second

year serving as the Regional Partner for the Middle East and North Africa.

LATIN AMERICA

As a Regional Partner for Latin America, Un Techo para

mi País mobilized volunteers and communities in six

countries to construct transitional houses for 613

marginalized beneficiary families living in conditions of

extreme poverty. Volunteers in Costa Rica, Mexico,

Uruguay, Honduras, Haiti, and Argentina were recruited

from local universities and received training from local

offices of Un Techo para mi País. Un Techo para mi País' headquarters, based in Chile, coordinated each

of the constructions with local branches.

Un Techo para mi País' GYSD activities coincided with their annual building campaign which takes place

annually during Holy Week. 4,291 volunteers participated in this campaign.

Un Techo para mi País (UTPMP) was founded in Chile in 1997 by a group of university students. Un

Techo’s mission is to improve the quality of life of impoverished families through transitional houses

and social inclusion programs in a joint effort between university volunteers and the communities. We

denounce the precarious reality of the slums where millions of people live, involving the entire society in

the task of constructing a Latin America that is more united and inclusive, without the injustice of

poverty. Un Techo para mi País invites society to recognize the injustices of poverty and acknowledges

its responsibility to address the lack of opportunities and the poor living conditions of the most

marginalized families in Latin America and the Caribbean.

For the second consecutive year, Corporación Grupo Tayrona served

as the Regional Partner for Latin America and the Caribbean. As a youth

led organization and a GYSD partner since 1999, Corporación Grupo

Tayrona utilized their own experiences coordinating GYSD at the

national level to identify key partners to coordinate GYSD within their

respective countries.

In Colombia, Corporación Grupo Tayrona hosted a huge rally in Bogota to launch Global Youth Service

Day and educate youth and the community at large about the importance of volunteerism and

community service as invaluable tools for personal and professional development, as well as the

positive development of the country. The culmination of Global Youth Service Day 2011 was marked by

the 10th

International Student Summit for Sustainability, hosted by Corporación Grupo Tayrona, which

took place in Bogotá – Colombia from 1st

to 6th

March – 2011. The Summit, a learning and exchange space

for interaction between students and different stakeholders to enhanced understanding, inspired action

and collaborative student-run projects focused on climate change, marked the official culmination of

Global Youth Service Day 2011 in Colombia.

Corporación Grupo Tayrona is an environmental, nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonreligious organization run

by an interdisciplinary team of professionals, youth and children interested in environmental and

educational work on a voluntary basis. The organization aims to build an environmental culture and

sustainable development in Colombia and Latin America through advocacy, social mobilization,

empowerment and citizen participation, in turn promoting coordination and cooperation in various

sectors and actors. Grupo Tayrona has served as a Country Partner for GYSD for the past ten years.

The National Volunteer Center of Peru (CENAVOL), serving as a Regional Partner for the first year,

coordinated Global Youth Service Day activities as part of a larger celebration for the International Year

of Youth. In Peru, CENAVOL organized a national campaign titled the “Institutionalization of the

Celebration of Global Youth Service Day.” The campaign aimed to institutionalize the celebration of

Global Youth Service Day across Peru through dissemination of information about Global Youth Service

Day and trainings on GYSD project planning. CENAVOL mobilized and engaged youth and

representatives from state institutions, civil society, universities and schools, and international

organizations. As part of their efforts, CENAVOL hosted a university volunteer conference at the

Unviersidad Nacional Agraria La Molina on April 14th, 2011, to bring together university youth from

around the country to discuss a national youth volunteer strategy and to network with volunteer service

organizations.

!

On April 17th, CENAVOL volunteers hosted a youth parade in Lima to celebrate the contributions young

people make in Peruvian communities throughout the year. Groups of youth broke into flash mobs and

performed songs and dances. The parade was followed by a youth volunteer fair and exhibition,

organized by Comisión Nacional de Voluntariado (CONVOL) and Ventanilla Municipality. The event

provided a forum for young people to find open volunteer opportunities with local organizations and

showcase their own volunteer service projects that are creating positive developments in their

communities.!

!

As a member of the International Association for Volunteer Efforts (IAVE), CENAVOL mobilized

organizational partners around the region to organize Global Youth Service Day projects in their

countries.!

!

The National Volunteer Center (CENAVOL) civil association is a nonprofit organization that seeks to

contribute to national development through the integration of national volunteerism. CENAVOL

promotes coalition efforts between civil society and the state as a way to contribute to national

development.!

!

!

EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

For the second consecutive year, Kenya Slums Youth Development

Organization was selected to serve as the GYSD Regional Partner for

East Africa. KESYDO is an organization that works to build a society where

slum youth access opportunities to realize their potential and participate

fully in the economy and civic processes with dignity. The organization

promotes youth engagement to develop a system where all youth living in

slums will have an opportunity to basic education, health,

entrepreneurial skills, clean environment, jobs, shelter, food, clothing and special education for those

with disabilities.

During the weekend of Global Youth Service Day, KESYDO in conjunction with Nairobi City Council

through their one stop Youth information centre organized cleanup activities in the eight Districts of

Nairobi and in the three big markets in Nairobi’s Central Business District. During the clean up

exercises, youth volunteers trained by the Ministry of Health also provided free HIV testing services and

over 1,000 youth accessed free HIV counseling and testing services. Through the Cleanup activities,

KESYDO mobilized more than 10,000 young people living in Nairobi and engaged key stakeholders

including local government administration officials, Liverpool VCT, and various local youth groups.

KESYDO also represented GYSD at the 23rd

United Nations governing council meeting that took place on

April 11-15, 2011 with the theme “sustainable development.” Numerous foreign and local dignitaries

from various UN member countries were in attendance and more than 20 youth groups attended and

exhibited their products from all over the world. The meeting was officially opened by His Excellency the

President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. More than 3000 people

participated in the meeting and organization exhibition, and KESYDO’s organization and GYSD exhibit

were well received.

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

On March 30, Young People We Care organized a creative arts workshop for

Young People We Care’s Development Education Club of Pakyi No. 2 Islamic

Junior High School The workshop began with questions about youth

volunteerism and the environment. Each student was required to close their

eyes to envision the present environment and jot down one word to describe it.

Words ranged from ‘polluted’, to ‘degradation’ and ‘vegetation’ – but even

included ‘beautiful.’ Some were then asked to stand to act out (without words)

how the environment made them feel. Humorous, yet realist responses were expressed. Each student

then drew pictures of how they could volunteer to preserve their environment. Their last exercise

entailed completing sentences in which the starting lines were given. “I wish…” “I dream…” “I hope…”

“I am…” “I can give…” “My service…” The students unknowingly composed a creative poem that

compelled others to marvel at their visions for the nation’s environment.

On 31st

March, YPWC officially launched Global Youth Service Day on the campus of University of

Education, Winneba – Kumasi Campus and local radio station Mynd FM 103.9 captured the entire event.

Over three hundred young people filled the auditorium to kick off this year’s theme – “Youth

Volunteerism and Environmental Sustainability.” A popular radio talk show host was the mistress of

ceremony and began by introducing the Presidential candidate for Conventions People Party (Papa

Kwesi Nduom), who fantastically began by empowering the youth with his initiatives for youth

engagement in the building of the nation. He has implemented a volunteer programme for young people

to travel to various villages and rural communities to teach young children basic subjects. His speech

was followed by that of a representative of Ghana’s National Youth Council. He represented the needs of

the youth and articulated that it would take a joint effort of stakeholders and young people to

accurately highlight the ways youth could become involved in development issues and thus solicit their

participation. Students from Pakyi No. 2 Islamic Junior High School then performed their original poem

entitled “Inspiration.” Lines included those wishes, dreams and hopes for a better environment through