University of Wisconsin - Extension

Connecting young people and adults in neighborhood volunteering is the unique focus of "Join Hands Day," a new national day of service scheduled for Saturday, June 17.

Join Hands Day encourages people to connect across generations to build greater understanding, respect and trust. Organizers point out that it is an opportunity for young people and adults to work side by side as they tackle projects and make life better in their communities.

In one Wisconsin Join Hands location, Green Bay families will spend the day working at the Bay Beach Wildlife sanctuary. Bay Beach is Green Bay's largest park, located on 700 acres of reclaimed garbage dump. Today, it is a sanctuary for waterfowl and animals, with miles of hiking trails and pleasant picnic areas for human visitors.

"Volunteers will spread wood chips on trails, and clean up five more acres for exhibition and educational space," explained Devorah Vineburg, director of the Family Matters Program in Green Bay.

"The idea of bringing adults and youth together is an important concept in 4-H youth development programs. A huge strength of the 4H program is that it allows youth to work with adults who are not necessarily their parents and accomplish things together," according to Aimee Ray, Wisconsin's Youth Engaged in Service (YES) ambassador.

Ray works statewide with youth leadership councils and the Points of Light Foundation from a home-base office with University of Wisconsin-Extension's 4-H youth development program in Madison.

Rays says everyone benefits when youth become more involved in the life of their communities.

"When youth work to identify and fulfill community needs, they gain a better understanding about what it means to be a citizen," she added. "They gain a variety of skills - people skills, political skills, money management skills and all kinds of job skills -- when they get involved in meaningful volunteer roles."

Ray said youth also gain self-confidence, self-understanding and a sense of accomplishment from volunteering to help others in their communities. The biggest gains come when youth decide what they are interested in doing and then organize the project themselves.

Communities benefit too when youth get involved as volunteers, she added. "Most people who volunteer when they are young, continue to volunteer as adults. That means communities that encourage youth involvement will have a larger number of volunteers in the future."