Young People Changing the World

(Photo: iStockphoto.com/mangostock)

Grace Chen developed two critical skills while teaching older adults how to use new technology. Duncan McDonell had a break-through with an older student during an art class. Aaron Smothers learned an important lesson while documenting seniors.

All three -- under the age of 25 -- are not only recipients of our Youth Jumpstart Grants, but they’re also among the millions of youth improving their communities every day through service.

Youth advocates and mentors will celebrate those efforts this weekend as part of Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) 2014, the only day of service dedicated to children and youth.

During that time, young people around the world will engage in work with schools, youth organizations, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations, national service programs, government agencies and adult mentors.

Established in 1988, GYSD is the largest service event in the world, with celebrations each year in more than 135 countries.

(Artwork: www.volunteerhr.org)

The Washington, D.C., celebration kicks off today with the 25th Annual National Service-Learning Conference, co-hosted by the National Youth Leadership Council and Youth Service America (YSA).

In honoring this annual event, we're highlighting a few young who addressed critical issues and changed their communities.

As part of the C & T Youth Technology Academy in Rockville, Maryland, Grace Chen was part of a project where she and her peers tutored older adults on how to surf the web, check e-mail, and operate cellphones, digital cameras and tablets.

She developed two important skills: the first being patience. “As a high school student who is constantly balancing school work and extra-curricular activities, I never need to slow down or wait,” Chen explained.

Life at the Ring House senior living facility, however, moved at a pace slower than what she was initially used to until she caught on.

“When I began conversing with the residents, I found myself wanting to slow down, becoming more patient,” noted Chen, whose group also assisted the residents with memoir writing. “It was…[a] skill that I realized could be applied to my life outside of the Ring House.”

Patricia and Duncan

She also developed solution-based approaches to challenges.

“When teaching some of the residents new technologies, it was easy to become frustrated,” Chen explained, recalling a day when the older adults struggled to click the left mouse button.  

When the residents grew anxious about their inabilities, the young tutor changed the direction of the conversation.

“At that point,” Chen noted, “we began to talk them through the steps, taking their mind off the difficulties.”

Duncan McDonell had a similar break-through with an older student during his art class at the Institute On Aging (IOA). (Read Duncan's blog post, Art as a Tool for Intergenerational Communication)

“I once taught a man named LiBorio who seemed to be very unresponsive while being taught,” McDonell recalled. “He didn’t want to paint, and he hardly spoke in class.”

But overtime, LiBorio came around and eventually painted a breathtaking nature scene and called McDonell’s name, which surprised everyone.

“What happened next was even better,” the art teacher explained. “LiBorio shook my hand and thanked me humbly and, after this kind gesture, he said, ‘I hope I see you soon, Duncan.’”

That experience showed McDonell first-hand the benefits of young and old working together.

Duncan's programming

“I realized what a powerful tool art can be and how it can be a wonderful aid for communication,” McDonell recalled. “I also found that one should never judge anyone, especially a senior, by first impressions.”

Aaron Smothers' time with the City-Wide Resident Council was just as enlightening.

In that project, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Smothers and his peers explored the history of Roosevelt Community Homes, a 314-unit public housing community that built in 1952, through discussions with seniors and a video project that took 2nd place at a community film festival.

Young and old “taking the time to work together and learn from each other,” Smothers recalled, “was amazing to watch.”

He appreciated the opportunity to work with the Saint Paul Public Housing Agency and the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN).

Part of the program’s requirements included Smothers and his peers taking a seven-week media course over the summer to learn videography.

The experience taught him something else.

 “I learned that a big part of helping [to] close the digital divide as well as the cultural divide,” Smothers explained, “lies in both sides of the age spectrum.” 

Universal Children’s Day – No Age Limit on Making a Difference

For her ninth birthday, Rachel Beckwith asked her family for donations to help bring clean water to people in poor countries. She died in a car crash before she could see her $300 goal exceeded a thousand times over.

Ryleigh Kastra and Joshua Williams fed needy people in their communities. Rachel Beckwith brought clean water to African villagers. These young people, all of whom Youth Service America (YSA) recognized as Everyday Young Heroes, weren’t in their teens when they decided to make a difference…they were children.

Yesterday was Universal Children’s Day, which the United Nations and its member countries observed for two reasons: 1) promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and 2) to promote the welfare of the world's children.

Of the former, these young people weren’t waiting on anyone to take action. They did it, themselves – like Rachel Beckwith of Seattle, Washington. On her ninth birthday, Beckwith asked her family for donations to Charity: water. She set up a website with the nonprofit, hoping to meet her $300 goal (she only reached $220 by her birthday).

Ryleigh Kastra from Charlottesville, Virginia, was just as ready to affect change when she joined a national food drive initiative started by another Everyday Young Hero. Kastra was 8 years old when she created flyers, asking for canned goods donations. She distributed nearly 400 of her flyers. She collected 700 pounds of food to deliver on her first trip to Neighbors-4-Neighbors.

(PHOTO: Lance Cheung) The White House recognized 11-year-old Joshua Williams, of Miami, last year as a “Champion of Change” for strengthening food security in the United States and around the world.

Joshua Williams, of Miami, Florida, and his family were on their way to feed the homeless when officials told them it was against public health laws to distribute food without a permit.

He was initially inspired by what he saw on TV. “I was watching Feed The Children, and I felt sad for the children,” Williams said in the Sodexo Foundation’s video, which included interviews with Williams’s aunt KerryAnne McLean and his friend Alexander Bailey. Of Feed the Children, Williams added, “I wanted to do [something similar] in Florida.”

That’s when his mom, aunt and a consultant helped him start his own foundation, Joshua’s Heart, when he was 5 years old. “It was amazing because his friends and other family members -- everyone -- was excited to help…and put a smile on someone else’s face,” McLean said.

The Foundation has since raised over 400,000 pounds of food to needy families in South Florida, while teaching some recipients how to prepare healthier meals. “We have volunteers and elves,” Williams said. “Volunteers are adults, and the elves are children. They’re my friends, or friends of my friends.”

An elf admired Williams’s selflessness. “I think Joshua has a very big heart,” Bailey said. “I would say that he's a very thankful person and he's very helpful.”

Universal Children’s Day is an opportunity to be as helpful in promoting the welfare of the world’s children. Two years ago, Generations United teamed up with the MetLife Foundation to help the Ryleighs, the Joshuas and the Rachels out there, looking to put their entrepreneurial spirits to work.

Through our youth-led jump-start grants, young people developed volunteer projects working with, or on behalf of, older adults. I remember what a teenager, who took part in our project, once reported. “One thing I learned through this project is to respect your community and your history,” he said.

“For all of the retired teachers we worked with, most had lived here for a while, and even though they are done working and could leave if they wanted to, they did not. I learned through their stories that your community has a way of shaping you and your history, and that your community never leaves you.”

Generations United promoted the welfare of the world’s children by stating our support for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan that devastated the Philippines two weeks ago – leaving thousands, who lost everything, struggling to survive without food or medical care. We used our weekly e-newsletter, Generations This Week, to direct support to HelpAge USA and Save the Children.

At our Signature Report event next month, we’ll tackle the zero-sum framework (funding programs like Social Security and Medicare for Americans over 65 vs. addressing college debt and youth unemployment), which sets up a false conflict between our older and younger generations.

As we celebrate Universal Children’s Day, let’s nurture our children’s potential and show them there’s no age limit on affecting change.