February was Service Learning Month at CfY, and last month, CfY students and mentors put the “Community” in Community for Youth by collecting food and volunteering with local organizations!
During last month’s service learning-focused workshops, students and mentors had the opportunity to drop off donations in a designated box for Food Lifeline, a Seattle based Hunger Solution Center and member of Feeding America. Students and mentors were ultimately able to collect 191 pounds of food for donation! Our friends over at Food Lifeline sent us a beautiful note of gratitude that was shared during our March Community Workshop.
Our CfY family groups were also invited to volunteer with Beacon Food Forest, a volunteer-led project focused on feeding the community through local food ecosystems. Our volunteering family groups and pairs went above and beyond during their time at Beacon Food Forest, and were able to do everything from pathway and tree guild maintenance to tree and shrub planting.
Dave Frazier, a former CfY mentor and member of Beacon Food Forest, shared words of praise with our organization regarding the work done by our students and mentors:
“I would just like to express my gratitude toward your organization and its participants. The mentee/mentor pairs and family groups that came through were so polite, excited to learn about the tools/methods of pathway maintenance, tree/shrub planting, and tree guild* maintenance. Everyone who had the pleasure of working with your members has reached out to me directly to express their gratitude for their work as well…The community is grateful for their help and keep asking me when the CFY folks are coming back to volunteer!”
Our wonderful mentoring pairs and family groups put their best foot forward when it came to service learning and volunteering last month, and giving back to our community was a truly special experience for all of us!
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the parties who made our Service Learning month such a huge success, including:
- Our incredible students and mentors, for stepping up to give back!
- Our own CfY Board Member, Parvati Patil, for connecting us with Food Lifeline.
- Dave Frazier and Beacon Food Forest for an excellent in-person volunteer opportunity.
Looking for ways that you can get in on the fun and give back to your community? Empower Seattle Youth by becoming a mentor. Visit https://www.communityforyouth.org/, and click here to fill out an application.
Interested in serving our organization through board membership? Reach out to our Executive Director, Wendy Armour, at exec@communityforyouth.org.