Global Youth Service Day

Michigan Community Service Commission Supports 28 Global Youth Service Day Volunteer Projects

The Michigan Community Service Commission, in partnership with Youth Service America, supported statewide organizations in their projects for Global Youth Service Day.

Multiple projects statewide focused on the beautification of local communities or schools, as volunteers assisted with trash and debris clean-up and helped plant trees and community gardens. Other projects included creating safer routes to and from schools, toys for shelter animals and nesting boxes for birds, stuffed animals for pediatric patients at Hurley Hospital, and more.

Many of the youth volunteered directly through their schools. One middle school student at Greenhills Schools said, “It felt awesome to help and be a part of something way bigger than yourself. It was amazing to realize what we can give back to our community.”

Another student at Greenhills said, “It really shows the good of humanity when you see people helping others in need.”

A spokesperson for Reid Elementary’s service described the students’ smiles while they participated in their “Day of Difference” for Global Youth Service Day as “contagious and the joy was felt throughout the whole school. Everyone involved teachers, students, and staff members felt that they had made a difference that day.”

These Global Youth Service Day projects engaged nearly 4,000 youth and other Michiganders in service, serving over 7,000 hours. The Michigan Community Service Commission issued nearly $15,000 in grants ranging from $100 to $1,000 to support Global Youth Service Day projects. Funding was also provided by AmeriCorps and Youth Service America.

“We are so proud to support youth in service. The impact they made this year is incredible. We hope they will continue a lifetime of service in helping their community and those in need,” said Michigan Community Service Commission Executive Director Ginna Holmes.

Some highlights from Global Youth Service Day projects include:

●Dollar Bay – Tamarack City Schools – 80 students in grades 4th-6th partnered with Keweenaw Wild Bird R.E.C. to create 28 nesting boxes for Black Capped Chickadees.
●Loyola High School – 125 students were taught the importance of caring for the environment by starting with their own community. They picked up garbage and further cleared the areas of weeds and spread mulch.
●Holland Language Academy – 154 students in an Earth Day school-wide trash collection for their Global Youth Service Day project. Together, they collected more than 1,687 pieces of trash.
●United Way – Montcalm Ionia – 30 middle schoolers cleaned up the local community center’s softball and soccer fields, tennis and pickleball courts, walking trails, a large play structure, and a theater inside the facility.
●Reid Elementary – 330 youth volunteers assisted in decorating mirrors for children who have cancer and visit McKenna’s Beauty Bar, created scent hearts for babies and mothers in NICU, stuffed animals with poly fill for pediatric patients, made bracelets for children who received a wish from Rainbow Connection, made pallet flags for local veterans, tie-dyed pillowcases for displaced families, made soap and canvas bags for children at Whaley’s, made activities for children who receive services from Helping Hands Autism Services, created bookmarks for the library and placemats for a local restaurant, made crafts for residents living at Pines Memory Center, rice bags used as heating pads for residents at Brookdale Assisted Living, and decorated plant pots and planted flowers for residents at the Oaks Senior Living.
●Peace Tree Parks – 90 volunteers germinated over 1,000 seeds for crops, built raised garden beds, and installed a solar-powered undersoil ventilation system for their greenhouse.
●Boys and Girls Club of Alpena – Youth Volunteer Corps – 102 youth volunteers constructed a compost box and planted vegetable seeds in the Boys and Girls Club garden. Volunteers learned about construction and tool safety, the importance of composting, and how to start a garden.
●Northwest Michigan Works! – 13 students from the Cadillac Innovation Career class assisted the Missaukee Humane Society made and donated 32 dog toys, as well as donated supplies and food.
●Michener Elementary – 300 students at the school cleaned the grounds and garden areas and planted herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and a butterfly garden to help beautify the school.
●Beal City Key Club– 200 students assisted in the First Annual Community Action Day where they raked, picked up trash, and cleared debris throughout town, including the yards of seven elderly community members, cleaned local cemeteries, painted dugouts at the township ball fields, delivered flower pots to local businesses, and more. The community project also engaged volunteers outside of the Key Club, which they say built bridges between students and community members.
●Greenhills School – In partnership with Detroit Blight Busters, 175 students from 6th-12th grades came together to beautify their community by removing debris from an abandoned building, prepping and painting exterior building walls for a mural, and general neighborhood cleanup.
●Clark Park Coalition – 20 youth volunteers assisted with a spring cleanup to get the park ready for summer programming. In addition to cleaning, picking up debris, and pulling weeds, volunteers also sorted through sports equipment.
●Camp Newaygo – 160 volunteers assisted in an Arbor Day tree planting project that resulted in over 1,000 trees being planted.
●Allen Neighborhood Center – 49 youth volunteers helped beautify the Hunter Park Garden House by removing debris and weeds, building 12 garden boxes and raised beds for garden kits that will be given to low-income families in the neighborhood, planting nearly 500 square feet of vegetable crops and 75 raspberry canes and bushes, and moving and spreading 30 cubic yards of compost. Over 2,000 community members are impacted by this project, as they expect at least 1,000 pounds of produce to grow and be harvested for direct donation and another 1,000 pounds of produce to be available for self-harvest over the course of the growing season.
●Leading with a Purpose – 25 youth volunteers assisted in making 32 dog toys out of recycled cotton clothing. The toys were then donated to the Michigan Animal Rescue League.
●Angels’ Place – 115 volunteers helped with the 30th Annual Spring Clean-Up Event, which focused on cleaning the yards of Angels’ Place group homes and building friendships between youth and community members.
●United Way of Bay County – Nearly 350 volunteers assisted in cleaning up 13 different sites in Bay County, including city parks, art sites, local nonprofit partner organizations, and the community walking paths.
●Wayne State University – 35 youth volunteers helped create safer routes to and from school for students at Malcolm X Academy by posting new signs and painting footprints on intersections nearby. They also repainted 5 exterior doors, restrooms and the staff parking lot, planted over 80 flowers and 4 pounds of mixed wildflower seeds around the school, and installed a “Give a Book, Take a Book” for students to enjoy.
●My Sister’s Keeper 48203 – 152 youth volunteers launched their Keep Growing Garden Project to build 5 community gardens that will provide fresh produce to area food distribution sites. Youth promoted the project, recruited volunteers, purchased supplies, painted the lot, and planted fresh vegetables.
●Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter – 36 youth volunteers assisted in a spring cleaning project on the shelter’s 20 acre campus. Together, they created 3 flower beds and planted flowers and 20 trees, picked up trash and other debris, groomed and widened dog walking trails, and put together outdoor puppy pens.

The grant recipients were: