A group of high-school students volunteered with members of the Greater Terrace Beautification Society to help clear up a walkway near Market Estates.
The group spent Tuesday evening pulling out weeds from the lane adjoining the subsidized housing project for seniors. This was also the first volunteering event for the youngsters from the freshly formed Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) hosted by Volunteer Terrace.
Through the program, youths from the community of Terrace get to decide what is needed and how they can improve society.
YVC, a non-profit service organization headquartered in Missouri, U.S, was founded in 1987 to encourage and support the spirit of volunteerism in youths between the ages of 11 and 18.
“When the beautification society approached us, it was a great opportunity to get started with this quick project to set the motion of volunteering rolling for the children” said Chera Bergen, program director of YVC in Terrace.
YVC is also hoping to get more children from the community involved in future projects.
We’re giving kids all the tools to become leaders in the future, she said, and added, that they want to volunteer with every chance they get in Terrace.
In a meeting held last week, the children identified core issues that the community is facing and possible solutions that they can come up with to tackle these problems. Some of the issues listed were, the lack of garbage bins, homelessness, addiction and theft among others.
They identified simple solutions for some of these problems, like for instance increasing visibility and accessibility of sharp containers.
In the coming months, the youth –most of whom go to Caledonia Secondary High– plan to apply for grants, fundraise and reach out to more community members to further their volunteering efforts in Terrace.
For youths who wish to participate in YVC’s meetings, they are held once a week on Wednesday at the Volunteer Terrace office on Emerson St.
For more information contact YVC’s program director at chera.b@volunteerterrace.com
