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Youth Volunteer Challenge Surpasses Goals and Breaks Records

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News Release
June 4, 2014

Local High School Students exceed Volunteer Challenge goals once again

002Local high school students have exceeded local targets for a third year in a row.  This year 3,364 students volunteered for an impressive 15,326 hours during the Change the World: Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge.

This year’s total numbers represent an 85% increase in youth volunteers and an 83% increase in volunteer hours over 2013. In 2013 1,813 youth volunteered for 8,182 hours.

United Way Volunteer Centre administered the challenge in KFL&A, encouraging students to log the hours they volunteered between April 6 and May 19.

“This is the third year in a row that the students have surpassed the set goals by a wide margin,” says United Way President and CEO Bhavana Varma. “It is very impressive and shows that young people of KFL&A are committed to making an impact on their community.  This speaks well to the future of volunteer engagement and youth leadership in KFL&A.”

Youth from Limestone District School Board, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board, École secondaire-publique Milles-Îles, Pathways to Education, Boys and Girls Club and Youth 2 Kingston Collaborative Action Steering Team participated in this challenge.

Some examples of the student volunteer activities include:

  • Bayridge Secondary School students organized and led the One Earth One Chance Summit. It is a day-long conference for local high school environmental clubs.
  • La Salle Secondary School students participated in Green Day Black Knight and helped to clean up the school and surrounding neighbourhood.
  • The Boys and Girls Club of Kingston & Area held their First Annual Youth Bake Off. Teens competed in teams to find a recipe, and bake treats for their Bake Sale.
  • Ernestown Secondary School students donated blood to the Canadian Blood Donor’s Clinic.
  • Students from Regiopolis Notre-Dame Catholic Secondary School and Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School volunteered to go door to door to collect food for the Hotel Dieu Hospital Partners In Mission Food Bank Blitz.
  • Students from École secondaire-publique Milles-Îles volunteered with the Food Sharing Project.

The challenge gives students the opportunity to develop new skills and broaden their awareness of community service organizations.

This initiative is made possible with funding support from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

About United Way Volunteer Centre
The United Way Volunteer Centre promotes volunteerism in the KFL&A region, enabling any non-profit organization to access a pool of volunteers. It matches these opportunities with volunteers who wish to lend their skills and expertise to local organizations. Visit www.unitedwaykfla.ca for more information.

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Media Contact:
Bhavana Varma, CEO, United Way KFL&A
613-542-2674, ext. 2   bvarma@unitedwaykfla.ca

 

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United Way of KFL&A would like to acknowledge this traditional territory’s longer existence and its significance for the Indigenous people who lived and continue to live on Turtle Island.

We are situated on traditional Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat land. There are Métis and other non-status First People from many Indigenous Nations present in our community today. This acknowledgement symbolizes the United Way KFL&A’s first step, of many, along this path toward Indigenous reconciliation, in a respectful manner.

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