Summer Advocacy is the new Summer vacation

Many of us are used to seeing the bright yellow school bus at least once while driving on our morning or afternoon commute. Yielding to school zones has become a habit. The time is coming and has already come for some of our districts to release their student population for the Summer break. Camps are advertising, beaches are filling up...opportunities are presenting themselves. As you are thinking about what you and child can do to have a meaningful summer break-consider advocacy. Being a volunteer has many rewards for young people. Community outreach is a great way to build social skills, learn new vocations, meet new friends and build character.

I recall one of my earliest summer volunteer adventures as a kid as a special and integral part of my life. There was a need for residents of my community to help clean the streets and pick up litter in our downtown area. Many people gathered young and a bit older and were separated into teams. I remember thinking about how friendly the people were that I worked with. We laughed, got to know each other and made a big difference.  I was only in the sixth grade and did not originally think of cleaning as a great summer activity but I was proven wrong. I became civically minded that day.

I saw the need for helping without expectation of monetary reward and our town looked a lot better. I remember being surprised when there was a drawing at the end of the event for the volunteers and my name was called. I won a free camera. For me the sixth grade was a long time ago but this memory is one of my dearest ones and I believe that it was the launch pad for my community-oriented business, Professionals Against Bullying and some of my literacy based non-profit related projects.

What can you do to help? How can you make it fun?   A great site for volunteer opportunities is www.volunteermatch.org this site has listings for a variety of roles. Let's make this summer stand out by standing up and giving back.