As we pledge our hands to larger service in 4-H, the “New Year” has a lot of potential to put our hands and hearts to work. You’ll find the following opportunities throughout the year to serve and celebrate:
Kid's Care Club – All Year Round
Kids Care Week is dedicated to recognizing the power of kids to reach out and help others in their local community. Young people focus their compassion on a specific social issue through a service project. Culminates on Make A Difference Day. For more information, visit: http://www.kidscare.org/node
Semester of Service
Semester of Service encourages students, ages 5-25, to develop a semester-long service-learning project that launches on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service (January 19, 2009) and culminates on Global Youth Service Day (April 24-26, 2009). Projects take place in classrooms as part of the academic curriculum, in schools as part of the extracurricular activities, in congregations of faith and in youth development groups in neighborhoods across the United States. During these 12 weeks, young people from elementary schools to graduate universities will identify a problem or unmet need that affects their community, the nation or the world. They will prepare a plan, take action to implement their solution, reflect deeply on their progress and next steps, and celebrate their success. For more information, visit: http://ysa.org/Programs/SemesterofService/tabid/170/Default.aspx
National Mentoring Month – January
National Mentoring Month (NMM) highlights mentoring and the positive impact it can have on young lives. Spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project, MENTOR and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the first ever NMM was held January 2002. This month-long outreach campaign focuses national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how each of us — individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits — can work together to increase the number of mentors and assure brighter futures for our young people. For more information, visit: http://www.mentoring.org/mentors/national_mentoring_month/
Martin Luther King Day of Service – January 19, 2009
Initiated by Congress in 1994, King Day of Service builds on that that legacy by transforming the federal holiday honoring Dr. King into a national day of community service grounded in his teachings of nonviolence and social justice. The aim is to make the holiday a day ON, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers and move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” Dr. King envisioned. With thousands of projects planned across the country, the 2009 King Day of Service on January 19 promises to be the biggest and best ever! To find out more, visit: http://www.mlkday.gov/
Souper Bowl of Caring – February 1, 2009
Souper Bowl of Caring equips and mobilizes congregations, schools and businesses to positively impact their communities by collecting money or food on or near Super Bowl weekend. 100% of the collections are donated directly to the charity of each group's choice. For more information, visit: http://www.souperbowl.org/
Random Acts of Kindness Week – February 9-15, 2009
A random act of kindness is a purportedly selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases even an animal. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile or be happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities. For more information, visit: http://www.helpothers.org/?gclid=COD8hJDy95cCFQ8Qagodlw8UEA
Act! Speak! Build! Week – March 30-April 5, 2009
Act! Speak! Build! Week is Habitat’s international, student-initiated week of advocacy. Act! Speak! Build! Week empowers young people to educate themselves and their communities and move people to social action. Young people, ages 5 to 25, work in partnership with local affiliates to plan and host events focused on ending poverty housing. For more information, visit: http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms/actspeakbuild/
Keep America Beautiful Month -- April
Each of us holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment. Through our everyday choices and actions, we collectively have a huge impact on our world. It's really a simple concept, but one with far reaching effects. For more information, visit: http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index
National Volunteer Week -- April 19-25, 2009
A nationwide initiative to recognize and celebrate the tremendous efforts of volunteers. For more information, visit: http://www.pointsoflight.org/programs/seasons/nvw/
Earth Day – April 22, 2009
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010 will be recognized by future generations as the turning point for all people worldwide and will mark the beginning of the Green Generation: an age of sustainability and a break with the past. For more information, contact: http://www.earthday.net/
National & Global Youth Service Day – April 24-26, 2009
Global Youth Service Day is an annual event organized by Youth Service America with the Global Youth Action Network, together with a consortium of international organizations and more than 100 national coordinating committees. For more information, visit: http://ysa.org/natlgysd/tabid/59/default.aspx
Join Hands Day – May 2, 2009
This national event unites young people and adults in an effort to make their neighborhoods bet
ter. The day brings youth and adults together as equal partners in planning an activity that fixes or improves a local problem. For more information, visit: http://www.joinhandsday.org/scripts/index.htm
Be Kind to Animals Week – May 3-9, 2009
Join the event that’s been celebrated every year since 1915 -- American Humane’s Be Kind to Animals Week. In this annual tradition, we commemorate the role animals play in our lives, promote ways to continue to treat them humanely and encourage others, especially children, to do the same. For more information, visit: http://www.earthday.net/
Clean Up the World Weekend – September 2009
Clean Up the World partners with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to inspire and assist communities to "clean up, fix up and conserve their local environment" through carrying out initiatives ranging from waste removal and tree planting to water- and energy-conservation projects. For more information, visit: http://www.cleanuptheworld.org/en/Membership/learn-more---join-the-campaign.html
National Neighborhood Day – September 20, 2009
Participate with your neighbors on the second Sunday in September of each year. This is a national initiative intended to inspire, build and sustain neighborhood relationships that provide the foundation for civic action and the building of stronger, more caring and effective communities. For more information, visit: http://www.neighborhoodday.org/index2.asp
Constitution Week – September 17-23, 2009
Constitution Week is observed annually to recognize the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia's Independence Hall. The Web site includes service-learning links that offer opportunities to promote understanding of the U. S. Constitution. For more information, visit: http://bostonteachnet.org/constitution/constitution.htm
Lights on Afterschool! – October 22, 2009
A project of the Afterschool Alliance, Lights on Afterschool! is a nationwide event that aims to bring attention to the need for afterschool programs that keep kids safe, help working families and improve academic achievement. For more information, visit: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/
Make A Difference Day – October 24, 2009
This is a program that inspires and rewards volunteers. A national day of helping others -- a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors held annually on the fourth Saturday of October. For more information, visit: http://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/index.html
National Character Counts Week – October 18-24, 2009
Character Counts! is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian character education framework that teaches the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. National Character Counts Week is an annual event every October, and participants include schools, communities and nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit: http://charactercounts.org/
World Kindness Day and Week – November 9-15, 2009
This
week is focused on promoting random acts of kindness. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities. For more information, visit: http://ezinearticles.com/?World-Kindness-Day&id=13531
Why is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week so important?
National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week – November (full week prior to Thanksgiving)
Participating in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week not only brings greater awareness to your community but also helps to promote the national endeavor to end hunger and homelessness. The plight of those without a home can be both lonely and difficult. Addressing their struggles by organizing and participating in this week may bring greater solidarity and understanding, as well as promote future involvement. Events, such as "One Night Without a Home," help people realize the difficulties that homeless persons face daily. Talk about these issues with your coordinators and discuss what impact such an event might have on your community. It is imperative to dispel myths that label homelessness as someone else's problem or claim that an end to homelessness is impossible. For more information, visit: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/awareness/index.html
National Family Volunteer Day – November 21, 2009
This is designed to showcase the benefits of families working together, to introduce community service and to encourage those who haven’t yet made the commitment to volunteer as a family. For more information, visit: http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/familyvolunteers/
Help celebrate service all year round!