The kids these days … all they talk about is community and volunteerism and working to make the world a better and more interesting place.
Huh? It's true, representatives of Soaring explain. The new youth volunteer club on the scene is superkeen to help fuel the civic machine. It also has the cure for both boredom and getting prepared for adulthood. Led by four of this city's most outstanding young leaders, Soaring demonstrates how volunteerism is good for everybody, in the 'collective whole' sense.
Soaring stands for Stand Out and Represent, Inspiring the New Generation. What it also stands for is putting the kids in charge and showing them the world of wonderful things to do.
Eleze Munro is one of the teens at the forefront of the movement. She started volunteering at Fountain Park Recreation Centre several years ago, when she was 10 or 11, because of her love of swimming.
"I got involved in it at a younger age," she said. "I volunteered so much there that they offered me a job. Now, I work there as a lifeguard and as an instructor. Had I not known about volunteering, I wouldn't have gotten that foot in the door."
Yes, volunteering can and often does lead to gainful employment. That could be why many schools' curricula require high school students to get out into the world and find activities that benefit others.
St. Albert is a city of almost 62,000 people and more than a quarter are 19 and under. That means that there are approximately 15,000 kids who are now out of school for the summer and looking for something to do. There's only one movie theatre, one skateboard park, three pools and a mountain bike skills park is still being debated.
Soaring wants to engage these youth with exciting and interesting activities for now, for tomorrow and for the future.
Preparing for take off
There are other youth clubs in the city, each with their own thing going on. The city's own Family and Community Support Services department even has BAM, also known as Building Assets and Memories. That group goes out into the community, runs some fantastic special events and gets kids interested in finding their own interests while making friends and learning how to get along with people at the same time.
Soaring is different. For one thing, it is a product of the Community Information and Volunteer Centre. The CIVC, as it's known, doesn't engage volunteers on its own, but rather points them in the right direction. It has its fingers on the pulse of more than 400 programs and services offered by different organizations around the city. For 34 years it has endeavoured to be a kind of clearinghouse for any and all kinds of community-building activities.
Secondly, Soaring is still a fledgling entity that's just getting off the ground. It has spent the last several months ironing out the details before it really goes to town. Munro's colleague Nolan Koziol called it a "construction year."
They had to come up with the right name to fit the bill. Soaring has its own logo and mission too. Identity is important, they say, because it improves on the buy-in from the young people it's trying to get involved.
You could think of it as a youth CIVC and not be far off. It still promotes opportunities and strives to network people with agencies needing help, just as the CIVC does. What it does differently is it gets involved directly throughout the community.
"Whenever youth are involved in community projects/events, volunteering and giving back become a part of their lives," states its website (at www.stalbertcivc.com/youth-volunteers.)
Katie Fitzgerald is another of the four members of the Soaring organizing team, along with Munro, Koziol and Amanda Magyar. She said she's gotten so much out of it and it's only just the beginning.
"You learn a lot of new skills when you make a group … the teamwork skills, the leadership skills just improve a lot when you have to learn how to work with other people."
Youths rally
Soaring is a public presence despite its small size and young age. Its members have given presentations to different youth groups and school classes. They were out during the Canada Day festivities on Monday, showing civic pride and boosting the festive atmosphere at St. Albert Place.
There's never an end of things to do and nowhere for the group to go but up, Koziol explained. He said he was no stranger to volunteerism prior to his involvement with Soaring but that he thought there were limits to what he could do. Now, he knows different.
"I just can't wait to see how it expands, knowing that we were the founders," he said. "I want to see it flourish and have it sustainable where other kids want to join in the future and they carry it on. I saw this as an opportunity where I can get more involved in the community and have no limitations."
Fitzgerald put in her two cents.
"I just thought it was another great way to get involved. I really like working with kids so when they said that we were going to inspire youth to volunteer, I thought it would be really cool."
"I think it introduces and it opens your eyes a little bit more to our community as a whole," she continued. "I volunteered at the food bank a whole bunch of times and you don't realize how many people use that resource and how much help they need. You realize that there are a lot of people even in such a great community as St. Albert that need that resource as much as they do. Then you realize that, yeah, they need your help."
The group is looking to host a volunteer management workshop early in the fall.
To learn more about Soaring, call the CIVC at 780-459-6666 or e-mail [email protected].
