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National Youth Service Day
National Youth Service Day--April 22-23--is promoted by Youth Service America to mobilize youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service and to support youth on a life-long path of service and civic engagement. In recognition of this day, Community Bridges and the Montgomery County Volunteer Center hosted an outstanding two-day program entitled "Why Should We Care?" The day provided an opportunity for youth around the county to analyze the topics of education and safety.

During the program, youth participated in snap debates, created museums of protest, learned about the Youth Education Alliance, gained knowledge of pedestrian safety issues from Matthew Green of the county's Pedestrian Safety Office and learned how to discover their own voices and the power that youth have to make changes in their schools and communities. At the end of each day, they picked a community issue most important to them and signed a pledge card challenging them to take steps to make change with that issue. The pledge card was mailed to them a few weeks later to remind them of the commitment they made on National Youth Service Day.

A parent of two participants expressed his sincere appreciation to everyone who was part of this event. "This gave my son and daughter a chance to interact, communicate, learn from and hear viewpoints from students who come from different schools, are different ages, and who represent different ethnic backgrounds than their own. I believe more events like this need to happen in order to help youth understand that it doesn't matter where you come from, we are all in this together, and we all need to work together to solve community problems."

My heartfelt thanks go out to all of the staff members of Community Bridges who helped to make National Youth Service Day a tremendous success. Mary Saba, elementary school program leader, and Gia Jones, middle school program leader, did such a fantastic job that I cannot say enough about these two wonderful women and the work that they do. I also want to thank Ana Lopez, executive director; Lisa Maltz, academic coordinator; and Jackie Cutler, elementary school program coordinator; and volunteers Tanya Reid and Ivonne Lindley, all of whom served as facilitators for the event. All of you helped to fulfill the goals of the day, but you also surpassed my vision and hope for what this day could offer youth part of Montgomery County.

By Nadji Kirby
W/E and Kids Action Network Program Coordinator
Office of the County Executive
Montgomery County Volunteer Center