Bureau of Services for Blind Persons
Michigan Career & Technical Institute
Michigan High-Speed Internet Office
Michigan Rehabilitation Services
Workers' Disability Compensation Agency
Black Leadership Advisory Council
Michigan Community Service Commission
Executive Order 2020-107 established Michigan Workforce Development Board
MiSTEM convenes a statewide network of leaders in education, business and local communities to empower the next generation of innovators.
Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission
formerly MI Compensation Appellate Commission
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
Thousands of youth across Michigan made a difference in their communities April 21-23 for Global Youth Service Day.
Young girls dug their hands in the dirt planting flowers, beautifying a Detroit community. Youth volunteers in Ionia prepared 565 meals for food insecure children. In Grand Rapid, high school students planted 150 trees.
The Michigan Community Service Commission, with partner Youth Service America, supported 35 Global Youth Service Day projects across the state, engaging nearly 4,500 youth volunteers. Global Youth Service Day, now celebrated in over 100 countries, is the largest service event in the world.
“Seeing youth participating in service and learning about making an impact in their community is tremendously uplifting,” said Ginna Holmes, Michigan Community Service Commission executive director. “The way their eyes light up and their smiles, it’s wonderful to see that excitement.”
The projects
Allen Neighborhood Center’s Youth Service Corps members cleaned up Hunter Park’s Edible Park Garden in Lansing. Youth repaired trellises, repainted signs, and prepared the garden beds for spring planting, with help from Lansing AmeriCorps members.
“We’ve had some vandalism this past year, but we’re rebuilding,” said Mike Tosto, youth programs coordinator. “There are a lot of great things happening on the east side of Lansing.”
Habitat for Humanity Capital Region beautified the yard for a 3-bedroom house on Lansing’s south side. Several volunteers from Michigan State University teamed up with the family, who will move into the home in mid-summer.
“Growing up, I’ve actually had friends that lived in houses built by Habitat,” said Jordan Mulcahy, a volunteer from Michigan State University. “It really feels good to be able to give back and help others out.”
Several youth volunteers with Urban Neighborhood Initiatives helped spruce up a Detroit park, creating a safe place for children to play. They removed graffiti from a youth-created mural and cleaned up sticks, rocks and trash.
“In some places there is a lot of trash and some kids don’t come around a place that is dirty,” said Jonathan Torres, 16. He added that he enjoyed serving his community. “You get to learn a lot of new things that you don’t learn at school and your friendships can grow.”
Around 40 young girls cleaned up and beautified the area around Alternative for Girls, a Detroit nonprofit that help homeless and high-risk girls and young women.
“We want the youth no matter what age they are, no matter what background they have, we want them to have an impact in the community,” said Jenny Clement, volunteer services manager. “They are enjoying getting their hands dirty, they found a few worms earlier. They are just having a fun time. They live in the surrounding area and this their community.”
A total of 80 volunteers with the Ionia County Youth Advisory Council served for nearly four hours at IM Kids 3rd Meal preparing 565 meals for food insecure children in Ionia and Montcalm counties.
“It’s just a way for us to give back to this community, because we’re always in our meetings and planning things, but now we get to work hands-on and help all these kids,” said volunteer Shannon Hoekstra.
Other Michigan Global Youth Service Day highlights:
A total of 200 volunteers with Carson City-Crystal area schools participated in several small projects, creating 10 blankets for an animal shelter, making 50 bird feeders for nursing home residents and collected 10 large bags of trash.
In Grand Rapids, 75 high school students from Grand Rapids Montessori planted 150 trees at Millennium Park.
In Lansing, youth volunteers planted flowers around six trees at Mid-Michigan Leadership Academy. They also helped lay mulch around trees and on the playground.
In Muskegon, 40 volunteers us updated, refurbished and rebuilt the Mike Miller and Roger Allison Memorial Community Gardens.
The Boys and Girls Club Youth Volunteer Corps of Alpena planted seedlings, created art, and learned about the environmental benefits of gardening.
Youth volunteers with the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency painted community garden signs and three Free Little Libraries for the community.
Youth in the Muskegon Heights community participated in a cleanup and community pride project, picking up trash on streets and school yard, building garden beds and creating a community pride mural for youth.
26 youth volunteers with the Refugee Development Center in Lansing helped build a bench at Hill Center soccer field.
Warren Consolidated Schools students pulled out 10 bags of invasive plants at the Stage Nature Center in Troy.
Volunteers with the AmeriCorps Urban Safety Program boarded up 11 vacant homes and created safe routes to school for children surrounding Priest Elementary School in Southwest Detroit.