Summer of Service Highlights
Masks on. Hearts open. Always serving.
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It was a summer like no other, but YVCHR overcame innumerable hurdles to provide meaningful service experiences for our youth volunteers! Our camp program--Summer of Service--operated at reduced capacity in order to ensure the safety and well-being of each participant and staff member. We also offered several virtual and in-person projects in order to engage youth not enrolled in camp sessions. From June to August, a total of 85 youth volunteers served 1,025 hours at 33 different projects. The 40 youth who participated in Summer of Service contributed 678 of those hours over 5 camp sessions, serving at seven different sites across the Peninsula. Kudos to these incredible young people for their commitment, positive attitudes, adaptability and resilience! |
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Seeking Canned Food Donations for Upcoming STEM Competition and Service Project! |
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Mark your calendars for our next drive-thru food collection at McCale Professional Park on Tuesday, September 15 from 9:00am-5:00pm. |
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Due to COVID-19, our annual YVC Summit will be a virtual experience. As a way to unite affiliates across North America in a friendly competition that will ultimately benefit our local communities, YVC Headquarters has issued a fun challenge: Build a CANSTRUCTURE from donated canned foods and send photos by October 1st! Our affiliate is excited to participate, as this is a project that we have hosted here in Hampton Roads for area schools for many years. And we are working hard to win the grand prize of $1,000, which will provide much needed funds to sustain our operations during this economic downturn.
Please consider donating canned food and/or grocery story gift cards. All of the food will be used to build a 3-D structure, which will be on display at Patrick Henry Mall from September 27-October 2. Afterward, all food will be delivered to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank to help feed those in need.
We have several drop-off locations within McCale Professional Park in Newport News (729 Thimble Shoals Blvd.). Visit one of the businesses on our flyer between now and September 23 to make your contribution!
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Virtual and Hybrid Service Opportunities for September and October |
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Hybrid Project
It's time to prep for cold-weather crops! This is a 2-part project and participants must commit to both dates: one virtual and one in-person (masks required). Seed kits will be provided and available at the YVCHR office for pick-up.
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In-Person Project
Only a few spaces left! Youth will serve a warm meal to men struggling with homelessness. A site-specific waiver is required, along with an on-site COVID screening. Must be at least 13 years old to volunteers and masks are required.
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In-Person Weekly Project
Youth will meet weekly to tend to the needs of the garden--including watering, weeding, planting, and then harvesting produce to donate to Peninsula Rescue Mission and the church food pantry. Masks required.
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In-Person Project
Join us at the garden to plant the next round of seeds and tend to the existing crops. Space is limited. Masks required.
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In-Person Project
Youth will serve a warm meal to men struggling with homelessness. A site-specific waiver is required, along with an on-site COVID screening. Must be 13+ years old to volunteer. Masks are required.
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In-Person Project
Construction of the Goat City is starting back up! The goats and chickens are eager to enjoy their new playground, so grab your tools and join us for this BIG BUILD project. Masks and waivers are required.
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Adult Volunteers Needed:
Friday, September 18th
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After a 6-year run, Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads is retiring its TUFF ENUF 5K Obstacle Challenge event and will be donating all of the lumber and materials to Bluebird Gap Farm. |
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We are in need of adult volunteers who can help us empty our storage unit, load a trailer (BONUS if one of our volunteers can provide a trailer!) and transport the materials to Bluebird Gap Farm. The lumber will be used for various projects at the farm--including a Goat City, which our Youth Volunteers will build inside the goat's habitat. Construction on the Goat City began on Saturday, March 7; this groundbreaking event signified the beginning of a unique partnership between Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads and Bluebird Gap Farm. Our youth-led Goat City Committee began meeting in August of 2019 to plan, design and orchestrate the details for this project; unfortunately, progress came to an abrupt halt when the pandemic was declared. This group of Youth Volunteers is eager to resume their work, but we are now working with extremely limited resources due to budget cuts. By utilizing some of the lumber from the retired TUFF ENUF obstacles, we will reduce costs and ensure the structure is completed in a timely fashion so that the goats have a play structure that will improve their physical and mental health. The Goat City will also serve as an attraction for families visiting the farm.
In an effort to continue construction and re-purpose lumber for this animal enrichment structure, we need volunteers who can safely and efficiently move heavy materials (mostly long boards that are 8-12' in length), load them onto a trailer and then unload them at Bluebird Gap Farm. We will meet at the storage unit at 9:30am. Once the materials are loaded, we will caravan to the farm to unload. Estimated time at the storage unit is one hour, with 20 minutes of travel time to Bluebird Gap Farm and another 45 minutes of unloading. YVCHR will provide water and snacks. If a volunteer can provide (and pull) their own trailer, that would be an enormous help! Waivers are required for all volunteers, as is strict adherence to safety guidelines.
MUST REGISTER BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th.
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Coming Soon to our School Clubs:
THE YVCHR MOBILE APP!
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We have been busy creating content for our very own mobile app, which will launch later this month for our school clubs. As we continue seeking ways to engage students remotely, we are especially grateful to be able to harness the power of Apple and Android devices while the majority of students are learning remotely. The app has been designed to streamline communications with club members, deliver focused service-learning curricula, provide quick access to important YVC resources and keep our YVC members connected to projects that we host on evenings and weekends. We are hopeful that this will make it possible for our awesome club sponsors to host virtual school clubs as we navigate this pandemic. While this initial roll-out of the app is strictly for our school club members, we plan to make it available to all YVCHR participants in Phase 2.
Special thanks to Community Knights for providing a GIFT Grant that funded the development of this important and timely technology.
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