Michelle Nunn’s Cross-Country Trip to Discover People at the Center of Change
For a month this summer, Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, is taking a cross-country trip to learn from the people across the country who are rolling up their sleeves and tackling the critical issues before us. Across the nation, she will search out and share the stories of change agents – people who are creating new ways of using their time, talents, voice and money to address the problems they face in their communities. While the political parties are talking about the things that divide us, Points of Light will be identifying the enormous common ground that unites us – our patriotism and embrace of the responsibilities of citizenship, willingness to help our neighbors and desire to leave the world a better place than we found it.
Along the way, Michelle will be visiting HandsOn Network affiliates, AmeriCorps Alums, corporate leaders and civic innovators to check out citizen-led projects across the country. Her goal is to place a spotlight on people taking action and unearthing innovative solutions that leverage the power of individuals.
Michelle kicked off her trip by delivering a speech in the historic Amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institute on July 9. Chautauqua is a forum for big ideas and conversation, inspiring audience members to commit those ideas to action.
Michelle, joined by her family, will head west though Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, ending her tour in Seattle. She plans to be in Buffalo, N.Y,, July 10-11; Columbus, Ohio, July 12; Cincinnati, July 13-14; Detroit, July 15-16; Minneapolis, July 22-24; Portland, Ore., Aug. 6-7; and Seattle, Aug. 8-9, with lots of stops along the way.
How Has Service Transformed Your Life Or Your Community?
How has service transformed your life or your community? How have others been a positive impact on you?
Today’s guest post is written by Diana Nguyen, a summer intern at generationOn. Diana is a native of California, a college student in Boston and an urban city lover.
The issue of homelessness always puzzled me. I am the sheltered girl who drives past staring through the safety of her car window. I am the schoolgirl who peeks from the corner of her glance as she walks through the iron gates of a prestigious institution. I am the girl who has asked the questions everyone has asked, “Where do the homeless go every night? How did this happen, especially to our war veterans?”
My curiosity is restricted by my caution. It won’t kill me, but it will make me stretch my neck as my eyes trace down the long line leading to the open church doors. I give my curiosity the responsibility to free my mind from the misconceptions about the homeless. People give my caution the responsibility to keep me “safe.”
I want to approach them, ask them the questions they can answer, erase the line between
u
s and them. My looks, misunderstood as condescending, is a palm face up, a bridge between what seems to be two separate worlds.
There have been a handful of times I’ve shared more than a stare. I participated in service projects that provided homeless people food. We donated untouched food from celebratory banquets. I wish I could say something transformative happened afterwards, but it feels silly. It feels silly when I think how afterwards I went home while the stereotypes and their living condition remained the same. I would feel so full of myself if I said I made an impact. I did and I didn’t.
The regular community members are the transformers. They know the names of the homeless, talk to them and change the neighborhood attitudes toward them. These community members don’t receive a ribbon for their service, they don’t even acknowledge the transformation they cause, but their service is invaluable. As an onlooker, these people have transformed me. I aspire to be someone who treats everyone equally, is modest and does so effortlessly. Collectively, these community members have transformed their communities to care about others, be concerned with more pressing issues and ignore the vanity of the city. They contribute to an atmosphere that humbles any tourist or passerby. I need to feel comfortable with the issue of homelessness, understand that homelessness does not only affect war veterans, but also the mentally unstable and youth.
I thank these community members for encouraging me and humbling me. I am tired of walking past and trying to silence my curiosity.
GenerationOn Nominated For the Classy Awards
The 4th Annual CLASSY Awards have nominated generationOn for the Best New Charity in the Northeast. We are so honored and proud to be in the running for this award. The Classy Awards recognize the greatest charitable achievements worldwide. Five months of nominations, voting and judging will culminate on September 21 and 22 in San Diego, CA.
The CLASSY Awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, celebrating the greatest charitable achievements by nonprofit organizations, socially conscious businesses, and individuals worldwide. In 2011, nearly 2,000 organizations and volunteers were nominated for a CLASSY Award, and their collective efforts impacted the lives of more than 200,000,000 people in 71 countries worldwide.
Today’s Turning Point comes from guest writer, Mary-Grace Reeves, a senior in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Pensacola High School in Pensacola, Fla.
The head librarian’s words echoed in my mind. “We don’t have the money, and we don’t have the manpower to start a new program.” In the weeks preceding this moment, as a library volunteer in the children’s department, I recognized a void in community reading programs specifically designed for young girls. I wanted girls to have the opportunity to improve their reading abilities, while learning about our nation’s past and contributing to our future through community service. However, as I faced the librarian, in a library across the street from where homes had been destroyed just years earlier by Hurricane Ivan, I realized that the library’s inability to bring my idea to life did not prevent me from taking action. The summer of 2008 marked my turning point: I jumped up, saying “I will do it!” Rather than waiting until someone else took action, I realized I could make a difference.
Since August 2008, I have led 46, unique monthly programs of the American Girl Book Club. However, I am not the only one who has a memorable “turning point.” I have found that the 7 to 12-year-old girls I work with also encounter “turning points” each month at our meetings. This “turning point” could result from gaining new knowledge. For example, in our detailed discussions of girls’ lives in past historical eras, brought to life by the Perdido Bay Indians and their Mobile Museum, guest speakers from the National Museum of Naval Aviation, fashion displays from the Daughters of the American Revolution, annual participation in the African American Read-In, Russian culture presentations from the Global Corner International Learning Center and even Asian-American language studies, to name a few, I have introduced the American Girl Book Club members to not only historical, but cultural traditions. This heightened appreciation of diversity shapes the girls’ approach to life.
I have also witnessed American Girl Book Club members encounter a “turning point,” with volunteerism as a means of empowerment. The girls realize that they can truly make a difference, whether through donating food to our annual American Girl Book Club Manna Food Drives (in the spirit of Great Depression American Girl character Kit), protecting our Gulf Coast beaches through a sea life conservation program I developed with the University of Florida (like American Girl Kanani’s experiences in her book series), involvement in our Global Youth Service Day initiatives to raise environmental awareness, honoring our servicemen and women on the anniversaries of 9/11 through construction of patriotic memorials displayed in New York City and Washington, D.C., creating Valentines for Naval Hospital Pensacola staff and veterans as part of the National Valentine’s for Veterans Project, and more.
You see, each month is a small “turning point,” but these small events collectively make a large impact in the girls’ lives, contributing to who they are today and how they will continue to view volunteerism as an integral part of daily life.
Mary-Grace is a member of the 2011 PARADE All-America High School Service Team, an award recognizing outstanding young service leaders presented by PARADE Magazine in partnership with generationOn,the global youth enterprise of Points of Light.
Change Notes: GenerationOn Celebrates Youth Service
Friends,
More than 300 civic, nonprofit, government and entertainment luminaries came together in New York City for generationOn’s Annual Benefit on May 31. The event, which provides a unique opportunity to celebrate and showcase the importance of youth service, honored National Public Radio CEO Gary Knell, who received the Champion of Service and Education Award, and Lauren Bush Lauren, who was honored for her work founding The FEED Project.
Nearly $800,000 was raised in this one evening, funds that allow generationOn, the youth enterprise of Points of Light to help children and young people make their mark on the world through service.
Both Lauren and Gary were greeted by surprise award presenters. Lauren’s father, Neil Bush, who was unable to attend the festivities, began the night’s recognition with a heartfelt and moving tribute to his daughter via video. Gary, former head of the Sesame Street Workshop, was beaten to the podium by his doppelganger Muppet who – despite some gentle coaxing from NPR’s Jackie Lyden – thanked, among others, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for teaching him about the importance of community and education. The real Gary Knell, after urging his Muppet to appear before the house appropriations committee in the coming weeks in his stead, spoke powerfully of the importance of service, education and encouraging and supporting young people to succeed.
Six examples of powerful young service leaders shared the stage at the event as the 2012 Hasbro Community Action Heroes. These awardees, who ranged in age from 8 to 16, were selected from across the United States for their dedication to creating positive change in their communities and around the world through their exceptional service. Each received their award from Hasbro’s President and CEO Brian Goldner along with a $1,000 educational scholarship.
This year’s honorees, whose full stories are available online, include:
Zachary Certner, 15, Morristown, N.J., advocating for special needs families
Maryam Farooq, 14, Bellrose, N.Y., working to stop bullying
Cassandra Lin, 13, Westerly, R.I., turning cooking oil into fuel
Will Lourcey, 9, Fort Worth, Texas, fighting hunger
Nina Mahalingam, 8, Nashua, N.H., helping Japan recover
One of the hallmarks of generationOn is supporting service leaders throughout their lives. It was in this vein that generationOn honored two individuals who have continued to volunteer and be engaged in their communities with the Silda Wall Spitzer Children for Children Award. The honorees were:
Nuni Montaigne, a recent graduate of Brown University and active community volunteer since 2006
Sonya Sackner-Bernstein, a recent magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and active community volunteer since 2006
The event, featured in the Huffington Post and on NPR, was hosted and co-chaired by generationOn co-founder Silda Wall Spitzer, Kevin Arquit, Brian and Barbara Goldner and Kathy Lacey, and attracted Hollywood and business icons including The Daily Show’s John Oliver, Avatar actor Stephen Lang, author Wes Moore, Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation President David Lauren, Jet Blue CEO Dave Barger and New York City Marathon winner Paul Tergat.
In service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light
Change Notes: Extraordinary Volunteers Honored at Make A Difference Day Awards
Friends,
Today, we celebrated 13 inspiring volunteer stories at the 2012 Make A Difference Day Awards in Washington, D.C. These awards, presented in partnership with USA WEEKEND and Newman’s Own, highlight the power of individuals to create change across geographies and generations.
For more than two decades, Points of Light has partnered with USA WEEKEND to sponsor Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service. It is a wonderful illustration of the American ideal of helping our neighbors in ordinary and extraordinary ways.
Each year on the fourth Saturday in October, Points of Light helps mobilize millions of Americans, young and old, to put their personal cares aside to tend to the needs of others. From those millions, the Make A Difference Day Award winners are selected for their leadership and service, which has not only created positive change in their communities, but also transformed their own lives for the better.
The event celebrated the best of our national spirit of service from across the country, ranging in age from school children to grandparents, proving that incredible things are possible when people unite to create change.
The event’s keynote speaker, actor and musician Kevin Bacon, shared his experience founding SixDegrees.org, a website that builds on the popularity of the “small world phenomenon” to create a charitable social network and inspire giving to charities online. He started the network with celebrities by highlighting their favorite charities, and he encourages everyone to be celebrities for their own causes by joining the Six Degrees movement.
Each of the 13 Make A Difference honorees received a $10,000 donation for charity from Newman’s Own. Honorees included:
Summer Search North Bay, Petaluma, Calif.
Fifty-five youth from Summer Search North Bay, which strives to develop leadership potential of promising low-income high school students, constructed a fence around a community garden, planned children’s activities, cleaned the grounds of an area high school and restored trails at a local forest preserve.
The United Way of Lake County, Waukegan, Ill.
A community joined forces with Bears Care, the charitable arm of the Chicago Bears and a local elementary school with an exceptionally high rate of physically disabled youth to build an accessible playground so all students can join their friends at recess.
The Marys & Marthas and the people of Clarion, Iowa
A group of church ladies, known as the Marys and Marthas, united their three-stoplight town, from preschoolers to elders, through hundreds of acts of kindness to mark its 10th year of participation in Make A Difference Day to create positive change in the community.
Girl Scouts of Madisonville Housing Authority Troop 333, Madisonville, Ky.
Local Girl Scouts used cookie sale proceeds to buy, decorate and hand deliver 450 greeting cards to nursing home residents. More importantly, they delivered smiles, friendship and a reminder to their elders that they are not forgotten.
Mary Vail, Las Vegas, Nev.
Mary Vail, 55, stepped in to fill a big void felt by the local Salvation Army as a result of Las Vegas’ recession. Vail’s annual supermarket food drive has collected 22.3 tons of food and toiletries since its inception 13 years ago, proving the city is more than a vacation hot spot.
Victory Christian Church, Albany, N.Y.
Victory Christian Church believes a city’s appearance is directly linked to the safety and well-being of a community. In order to keep the community in premier shape, the church celebrated its seventh Make A Difference Day by creating a “tool library,” complete with hammers, rakes, saws and more.
Joyce and John Jackson, Delaware, Ohio
Grandparents John and Joyce Jackson believe passing down the spirit of volunteerism is one of the most important things they’ll leave their grandchildren. For the second time, they spent Make A Difference Day collecting food with their granddaughter, enough to feed four families for three weeks.
Neha Gupta, Yardley, Penn.
A trip to India inspired Neha Gupta, 15, to start a nonprofit abroad and organize a local project for a diverse and incredibly poor intermediate school in her community. Thanks to Gupta and a group of volunteers, the school now boasts a library with more than 3,000 titles for the students to enjoy.
Eleanor Schoenbrun, El Paso, Texas
Eleanor Schoenbrun’s passion for homeless animals led her to spend Make A Difference Day in the hot sun of a parking lot collecting coins to save her abandoned, four-legged friends. The 8-year-old helped raise more than $2,705 for the Animal Rescue League of El Paso.
The Ellis Family, Rhinelander, Wis.
The Ellis family keeps their late daughter’s memory alive by raising money for their local Ronald McDonald House. Their efforts not only help others in the community facing similar hardships, but also keep Ashley a part of their lives after cancer took her at only 2-years-old.
The three 2012 City Award honorees included:
The Jersey City Parks Coalition and Jersey City, N.J.
The Jersey City Parks Coalition, with the support of three city agencies and more than 600 volunteers, planted bulbs on Make A Difference Day. Eighteen thousand yellow, red and orange daffodil and tulips brighten up 80 sites in the community.
City of Salisbury, N.C.
To celebrate its first Make A Difference Day, Salisbury’s Community Appearance Commission united more than 85 volunteers, including the mayor, a college track team, Girl Scouts and more, to paint houses, install fences and plant trees to beautify two neglected blocks of historic district.
Strong Neighborhoods Program, San Jose, Calif.
Strong Neighborhoods, a neighborhood revitalization program, led America’s 10th largest city in a cleanup blitz on Make A Difference Day. Approximately 160 volunteers, most of them under age 18, filled 48 trash bags and covered 708 graffiti tags.
The awards ceremony is a great reminder of the incredible acts of service creating positive change in our country as we set our sights on Make A Difference Day 2012, celebrated on Saturday, Oct. 27. It is a symbolic demonstration of the power of voluntary action – which we celebrate during this National Volunteer Week.
Make A Difference Day, the nation’s largest day of service was created in 1992 by Gannett Co., Inc.’s USA WEEKEND Magazine along with Newman’s Own and Points of Light. For more information, please go vist the Make A Difference Day website.
In second grade I began a “career” in community theater that eventually gave me opportunities in professional theater and TV. I enjoyed the challenge, the friends, the total experience and I knew that I was more outgoing and confident because of theatre. Then in 2003, I read that Cobb County, where I lived, had an increase of 300 percent in our Latino community. Because I have a Spanish-speaking mom and learned the language at home and at summer camps, I wanted to do theater in Spanish or in a mix of both English and Spanish. I thought it would be a great way to get the growing Spanish speaking populations more involved in the community. I was just 10-years-old when I began The Children’s Bilingual Theater; an outreach program that I believe is making a “community of difference.”
I am committed to the idea that our theater can make a difference because we are dedicated to giving a diverse group of young people theatre experience while offering the benefits of confidence and public speaking in a bilingual setting. Even though I have operated on a shoe string budget, I find success by taking advantage of all opportunities from grants, sponsorships, and awards to speaking about our work to engage additional community support. Today the Children’s Bilingual Theater is a student-run theatrical outreach company focusing on bringing bilingual programming to venues in the Cobb County and metro-Atlanta area. I have led 200 volunteers, produced six bilingual plays and hosted numerous literacy events.
Our little group grows and shrinks with each production. Kids join, do a show, volunteer and when they move on they have wonderful theatre skills that will always help them speak up, stand up straight, find their mark and as I like to say, “make their mark.”
One project that has been particularly meaningful to me brought together my personal challenges with Turner’s syndrome, a congenital disability, with my theatre background. I wrote a bilingual play called Mr. Ooba’s TEAM that addresses the issues of bullying of developmentally-disabled and medically-fragile children and diversity in the classroom. Our volunteers have performed it as a reader’s theatre and with a student cast. Now with community support we currently are working with Puppatoons and puppeteer Liz Vitale to produce a puppet version to tour in 2012, launching at Sacred Tapestry Church in East Cobb.
When I was in fifth grade and began The Children’s Bilingual Theater with 17 volunteers, I could never have imagined that it would one day become an important community organization committed to teaching tolerance by bridging language and cultural gaps in the Atlanta area through the theatre arts. Nor could I have imagined the tremendous impact that this theater company would have on me.
I have learned by leading this group and by producing bilingual performances, that all participants and audience members are impacted by this work. Students develop personal confidence, hone their communication skills and appreciate more deeply the theater. As a grassroots organization, we work closely with the community. Local businesses become program sponsors while government agencies and local leaders support our work while we build bridges and understanding between disparate parts of the community that are sometimes separated by language and culture.
Jordan Schwartz, 18, attends Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. In 2004 she founded The Children’s Bilingual Theater, a student-run theatrical outreach organization bringing bilingual programming to venues in the metro-Atlanta area whose cast and crew have reached more than 6,000 audience members and countless school audiences. Jordan is a member of the 2011 PARADE All-America High School Service Team, an award recognizing outstanding young service leaders presented by Parade Magazinein partnership with generationOn, the global youth enterprise of Points of Light.
GenerationOn Has Provided Me With An Amazing Experience
Today’s guest post is written by Mohit Jain, a 17-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska and a member of the inaugural generationOn National Youth Advisory Council. He was inspired by his grandfather’s battle with Alzheimer’s and is now leading his community and state to a healthier tomorrow. He is actively involved in medical research and is a member of the American Red Cross National Youth Council, the Live Well Omaha Youth Advisory Council and the Nebraska Governor’s Advisory Council.
The generationOn Youth Advisory Council is made possible through the generous support of the Hasbro Children’s Fund. Today is the final day to apply. The application period closes at 5pm EDT. To learn more or to apply, click here.
One of the first things that I received during my journey with generationOn was a Mr. Potato Head toy from Hasbro. Even as a 16-year-old, I derived a great deal of joy from the simple design of the toy — maneuvering the different pieces to make the whole. Little to my knowledge, generationOn would soon become the many different pieces of the Mr. Potato Head toy, shaping my involvement in service and connection to the nonprofit community.
My experiences with generationOn started during our inaugural National Youth Advisory Council (YAC) leadership training event where I was inspired by the role that youth continue to play in organizations and the power and potential we have when we band together to address issues in our communities. I sat at the same table as Michelle Nunn, Neil Bush, and Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, and learned about the time and energy that these leaders take to involve youth in their work. Hearing from them gave me the sense that there is support for my generation to tackle issues through service in a way that I’ve never experienced anywhere else before.
After I learned about the innovative projects being conducted by my peers and heard of the successes of these great leaders, I decided to take my own action. I opened up a website which helps connect students in Omaha to new opportunities in the area and nationally. The website is a network of several community partners in Omaha that present new volunteer opportunities, scholarships and awards on both the local and national scale that are updated on the website, primarily through social networks.
Through generationOn, I’ve also been given numerous opportunities to both share and listen to other peoples’ ideas and initiatives. I traveled to New Orleans as a representative of generationOn at the National Conference for Volunteering and Service, where I was impressed by the sheer number of people in the network of volunteers and the vitality of youth nationally. One of the features of the conference was a youth summit where two of my peers gave a presentation on how organizations can further involve young people in their events.
Furthermore, I traveled with generationOn to the World Youth Volunteering Summit in Barranquilla, Colombia, where I interacted with more than 900 participants from six continents. There, I found that the same principles that guided my community of service in Omaha also bonded people in countries like Somalia, China, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Ghana, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, France, Russia and Germany (just to name a few). Service is an international phenomenon. There, I presented a workshop along with my YAC colleague, Clay Hurdle, on the importance of including social media in the work of nonprofits and service initiatives to mobilize people to action, especially our generation.
From meeting prominent leaders to collaborating with my peers to being able to share ideas and brainstorm with volunteers nationally and internationally, generationOn has provided me with an amazing experience where I have learned so much about myself and the abilities of my generationOn to make their mark on the world. It has truly been a phenomenal experience! The generationOn YAC opened doors, and introduced me to a new world that I instantly fell in love with. It shaped my ideas, my goals, and the field I plan to pursue at a professional level. I urge you to start your journey by applying today!
Joining the Youth Advisory Council Changed My Life
Today’s guest post is written by Liu Zhen Huang, a graduating senior at Baruch College Campus High School and a member of the inaugural generationOn National Youth Advisory Council. She first began her volunteer work with generationOn’s Service for School Success program and through work at Asian American for Equality, a nonprofit that works to help new immigrants from China. Most recently, Liu worked independently with students in her community including Asian Americans from her own school to educate them about staying in school.
Through attending service events and being a member of generationOn’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC), I have broadened my views on the importance of youth service. In March, The Points of Light Tribute Event and the generationOn Youth Advisory Council leadership training event brought the YAC members together in Washington D.C., and it was a remarkable experience. I met not only the generationOn staff but the nine other YAC members who have since become my close friends and trusted colleagues. I was also able to serve alongside my new colleagues at a local community for veterans with many more volunteers.
Later in April, I was fortunate enough to attend generationOn’s Hasbro Community Action Heroes Award Ceremony. I found myself learning to socialize and interact with adults, many of whom work under the umbrella of Points of Light. It was a great opportunity for social networking and meeting like-minded youth that share my passion for service.
Furthermore in June at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service (NCVS), I gave a presentation called “Let Us Lead” in New Orleans, encouraging adults to involve more youth to serve in their organizations. Never before had I ever been involved in such a big conference, I became familiar with a variety of nonprofit organizations, received a Daily Points of Light Award not to mention engaging myself and my mission to the media. The past year, I’ve experienced a great deal of unique learning experiences full of different opportunities and personal accomplishments – and I owe this all to becoming a member of the generationOn YAC.
Joining the YAC has changed and transformed my life. I have learned to be a more assertive, independent and responsible civic citizen in my community. I am now more aware of the environment I live in, am able to recognize the community issues that I am unsatisfied with, and by cooperating with my YAC peers, I know I can make a difference in my community. Throughout my journey with the YAC, I have galvanized more and more of my peers to donate their time and talents, like painting and planting flower bulbs at local parks in New York City. At the beginning of school year, I also managed a 9/11 tribute event. Joining the YAC has changed my attitude in life, I am now more mature. I feel appreciative when I hear other people say thank you to me or how they enjoyed serving others.
If you happen to be a teenager between the ages of 13 – 18, I encourage you to apply for the next generationOn Youth Advisory Council. GenerationOn is a platform that allows you to grow both personally and professionally. You will be forever bonded and supported by your YAC colleagues, and the adults and mentors on the generationOn staff are also always there for you whenever you need them. There is no greater position than being a member of the generationOn’s YAC. I recommend every youth across the country to apply today!
News Flash: One Week Left to Apply for generationOn Youth Advisory Council
There is just one week left to apply for the generationOn National Youth Advisory Council. The Council is a unique opportunity for 12 middle and high school students (13 to 18 years old) from diverse backgrounds across the country to participate in a service-learning and leadership development program within generationOn. Participants will contribute to and inform generationOn programming while acting as ambassadors and leaders for youth service in their communities.
Thanks to the generous support of The Hasbro Children’s Fund, the Youth Advisory Council provides youth the opportunity to:
Engage in creative work with a nonprofit organization focused on youth and service
Partner with like-minded youth with unique perspectives from across the country
Inform generationOn programming while learning about approaches for engaging youth in community service
Act as a service-learning ambassador in their region by playing a leadership role in engaging youth in service and service-learning
As Points of Light’s youth service enterprise, generationOn inspires, equips and mobilizes youth to take action through generationOn service clubs, schools, youth organizations, campaigns and youth leadership initiatives. It works to infuse its programming with youth voice and creates replicable models of youth leadership for the field.
Youth interested in applying must meet the following criteria:
Be enrolled in middle school or high school (in grades 7 to 11) as of September 2012
Be 13-18 years old in September 2012
Be a resident of the 50 United States or District of Columbia
Be able to commit to a term from September 2012 to June 2014
Be available to travel with a parent/guardian chaperone July 31 – August 5, 2012, for a special, expense-paid, kick-off youth leadership training event in Washington, D.C.
Be available via phone for bi-weekly web meetings with fellow Council members
Be able to provide feedback and participate in program evaluations
Applications accepted now through Tuesday, April 10, 5 p.m. EDT.
If you know of a young person who is passionate about service and would make a great leader, visit generationOn.org to learn more about how to apply.
How has service transformed your life or your community? How have others been a positive impact on you?
The 4th Annual CLASSY Awards have nominated generationOn for the Best New Charity in the Northeast. We are so honored and proud to be in the running for this award. The Classy Awards recognize the greatest charitable achievements worldwide. Five months of nominations, voting and judging will culminate on September 21 and 22 in San Diego, CA.
Today’s Turning Point comes from guest writer, Mary-Grace Reeves, a senior in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Pensacola High School in Pensacola, Fla.
31. The event, which provides a unique opportunity to celebrate and showcase the importance of youth service, honored National Public Radio CEO Gary Knell, who received the Champion of Service and Education Award, and Lauren Bush Lauren, who was honored for her work founding The FEED Project.
presenters. Lauren’s father, Neil Bush, who was unable to attend the festivities, began the night’s recognition with a heartfelt and moving tribute to his daughter via video. Gary, former head of the Sesame Street Workshop, was beaten to the podium by his doppelganger Muppet who – despite some gentle coaxing from NPR’s Jackie Lyden – thanked, among others, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for teaching him about the importance of community and education. The real Gary Knell, after urging his Muppet to appear before the house appropriations committee in the coming weeks in his stead, spoke powerfully of the importance of service, education and encouraging and supporting young people to succeed.
This year’s honorees, whose full stories are available 
Today’s blog is re-posted from the 
Today’s guest post is written by Mohit Jain, a 17-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska and a member of the inaugural 
Today’s guest post is written by Liu Zhen Huang, a graduating senior at Baruch College Campus High School and a member of the inaugural 
Joining the YAC has changed and transformed my life. I have learned to be a more assertive, independent and responsible civic citizen in my community. I am now more aware of the environment I live in, am able to recognize the community issues that I am unsatisfied with, and by cooperating with my YAC peers, I know I can make a difference in my community. Throughout my journey with the YAC, I have galvanized more and more of my peers to donate their time and talents, like painting and planting flower bulbs at local parks in New York City. At the beginning of school year, I also managed a 9/11 tribute event. Joining the YAC has changed my attitude in life, I am now more mature. I feel appreciative when I hear other people say thank you to me or how they enjoyed serving others.
The Council is a unique opportunity for 12 middle and high school students (13 to 18 years old) from diverse backgrounds across the country to participate in a service-learning and leadership development program within generationOn. Participants will contribute to and inform generationOn programming while acting as ambassadors and leaders for youth service in their communities.