The YMCA has a mission to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. The YMCA focuses on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility in the surrounding communities. They make it a point to make a change in individual’s lives and strengthen those (Grady 2). They have a cause for strengthening the community and helping people grow and thrive no matter their background, income, or age. Caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility is the main values the program focuses on. The YMCA that I volunteered for was in Midwest City, Oklahoma. This specific one was founded in May of 1889, just one month after the land run. In those days the YMCA was known for helping young men who traveled to make a new life for them and their families. There are about 10,000 neighborhoods who have a YMCA in their communities. By cultivating the …show more content…
In the United States., the Y is comprised of the YMCA OF THE USA, a national resource office, and more than 2,600 Ys, 20,000 full-time staff and 500,000 volunteers across the country. The Y engages 9 million youth and 12 million adults in 10,000 communities across the country (Grady 4). In the Midwest city YMCA there are so many opportunities for younger children and even adults that a lot of people do not even know about, I know I did not. At this particular YMCA, there is a basketball court, pool, a kid’s zone, and group exercises. I was very surprised with the amount of support the YMCA gives to children and teens. Since the YMCA is big on improving lives, all the children that attend become more like family then just children from the community. I helped with small group activities a majority of
The YMCA is a leading nonprofit organization for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The YMCA, also known as the Y, is a nonprofit like no other. This is because in 10,000 neighborhoods across the nation, Y-CAP has the presence and partnerships to promise and deliver a positive change.
..., families have the opportunity to engage their children in sports and activity during the year. Starting with the youngest members, the YMCA offers childcare services for infants and toddlers at the Kolbe Early Care and Learning Center on Kossuth Street in Bridgeport. At the main location on Park Avenue, there are two School Readiness programs and one School Age Child Care Program. Youth sports programs such as basketball and wrestling teams are offered for teens, as well as a summer camp program. With all of these programs, you would think that obesity would not be an issue. However, though observation, we have witnessed many children come into the nurses office with “headaches” or “belly aches,” and when asked what class they were in they respond, “gym.” Although obesity is being addressed through these programs, the children do not always actively participate.
However, most of my volunteer work comes from outside of the school, such as; Pelotonia, Light the Night for leukemia and lymphoma, Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities, etc. For many of these organizations I have volunteered more than once. Volunteering at Light the Night has a story. For my 16th Birthday party, I wanted to have my friends and I volunteer for the day while having fun at night. So I had 7 boys and girls, along with me, volunteer for Light the Night, organized by me.
Altogether, my perspective on this affiliation embraces the importance of education and safety across all of the United stated. The founder has surfaced a great importance to what may have been over looked. Furthermore, being that most children engage in camp experiences at some time in their life; as youngsters with the ability to absorb information like a sponge as well as being risk takers, it is imperative to hold education and safety as a high quality of a camp experience. Moreover, is the education of communicable disease along with prevention of outdoors dangers as I had mentioned before the West Nile Virus. In conclusion, I view the volunteers as inspirational people that bring knowledge to others, but most importantly benefiting the children.
Volunteering for a poverty program, policy group, or community service organization is an experience that will educate oneself and endure an involvement with those who may be in need of assistance for a period of time. When deciding where I wanted to do my volunteer experience for the class I wanted to make sure that I found experience that I would learn from. There were a variety of places that I could choose from that were in the area. For my experience I chose to volunteer at a salvation army in my hometown Springfield, Oh. This is an organizational group that provides services to those who are poor in a variety of ways. The Salvation Army is an organization that has several different branches in various locations. This branch helps in a variety of ways by having summer camps for children, social service programs that offer assistance with topics such as bills, food, clothing, furniture and a variety of other resources. They also provide several different opportunities around Christmas to help with the different assistant groups that they have available.
One organization that has help me tremendously along the way is the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I have been involved since I first entered high school and have seen the potential, first hand, that a passionate believer can have on a persons moral and social outlook on life. As and officer in the Fellowship of
I volunteered at the Activity Center for my Service Learning project. My duties were to watch the kids who participated in the after school program, play with them and help them with their home homework. I really enjoyed interacting with the African-American people and culture. I learned many things from the African-American population I worked with. I learned how the Activity Center staff teaches the after school kids good manners and behavior. I mentioned in one of my service learning journals that the staff was very strict and treated the kids like prisoners, but I came to the realization that maybe that is how they teach the kids discipline. I had the opportunity to be around all the Activity Center kids and interact with them. They were kids just like any other kids. Of course they are kids and sometimes they did misbehave but overall they were really great kids. I noticed that most of the boys want to be more independent of them, but they were such sweet kids.
In every community, boys and girls are left alone to find their own amusement and friendship in the streets. A growing number of kids are at home with no adult care or supervision. That is where the Boys and Girls Club steps in. They have a variety of programs and services that not only get the children off of the streets, but also teach the kids life skills that they would be without if not for the Club. As it states on the Boys and Girls Club website, “Boys & Girls Clubs are a safe place to learn and grow – all while having fun. It is the place where great futures are started each and every day.” There are so many different programs that the Club offers for their after-school programs and summer camps. The main programs are Education and Career, Character and Leadership, Health and Life Skills, The Arts, and Sports, Fitness and
Over the four years that I have spent at Good Counsel, I became part of many activities. Each helping me evolve as a person and become stronger yet. Simple lists could be made of every activity that I have ever been involved in but it could never express to a person what I have learned and how it helped me to grow. Every environmental club, science club, political science club, service work, and S.A.D.D. club I was part of had a very special message to deliver to me. Whether the message was one of responsibility, or a life lesson, I grew from it. The Political Science club opened me to many new experiences. It allowed me the chance to attend the Model U.N., where I was asked to address today's top world issues. This club was very beneficial to me because I was exposed to topics and ideas that I had not previously been able to discuss or learn about in a classroom situation. The science club allowed for me to experience extra educational situations as well. I took part in a hovercraft competition, which was very educational while also allowing me the chance to work with others for a common goal.
I felt as if I was able to make a change even though it wasn't a major change. I also loved working with kids of all ages ranging from kindergarten to 8th grade. They all brought a different personality which I enjoyed. Overall, volunteering anywhere helps someone make a change in someones life and their own even though they may not notice it. There are many people who are in need of volunteers all the time and not many people get the opportunity to volunteer during their lifetime.
People often fail to see the life-changing role sports can play for at-risk youth in low-income urban neighborhoods and the need for more sports-based youth programs to reduce crime and increase high school graduation rates in our cities. An article written about a year ago about “Royals, local government team up to open a youth urban baseball academy at 18th and vine,” The Kansas City Mayor calls it a dream and others called it a fairytale. Projects like this don’t come very often, or at least not nearly as often as we’d all like. They are calling it the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy. The possibilities are incredible. On the surface, they will be teaching baseball to kids from 6 to 18 years old, but really, they want to be doing much more than that. The only way communities can progress and build infrastructures like this one in areas that are termed as gang infested areas like this one is by spreading the message of love in community related events such as
I am grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school. It opened my eyes to a few of the problems in our communities. I was able to make others aware of those problems through volunteering and being proactive. I am going to continue with the program for as long as I am able to do so. If only we had millions of these programs across the globe, many other children would be able to benefit and develop the skills to succeed educationally.
Though, the concept of community service is not very new, its importance has developed in the past few years. There are thousands of organizations all over the world that engage and support millions of young people all over the world. People of all age groups, with a maximum number of youth involved in the process of community service. Community-based organizations include social service organizations, non-profit providers and associations that engage both young people as well as adults as volunteers. The process is beneficial both for the individuals as well as the society.
I also had the privilege of helping with the Meals on Wheels non profit organization. My grandfather used to be a Meals on Wheels recipient and he would share with me how he enjoyed looking forward to their company and a hot meal daily. I volunteered because I wanted to give back and help someone else’s loved one in the same way. It was very rewarding delivering hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one as well as being there for them to talk to. Overall, it was a very humbling experience, it made me realize just how blessed I am and how much I take for granted daily.