December 2013 Volunteer of the Month - Ginghamsburg Church Youth Ministry

Congratulations to Ginghamsburg Church Youth Ministry, our Volunteer of the Month for December 2013!

This group of enthusiastic teens from Tipp City, Ohio brought their energy to several of our projects earlier this month during an annual service trip to NYC. They travel regularly to several locations every year to participate in community service projects in the U.S. and abroad.

The teens split into smaller groups between several activities on Thursday, December 5th: canvassing in the Bronx to inform people about public benefits; canvassing in the Rockaways with information about disaster case management; and joining seniors at our residence in Sea Gate, Brooklyn to celebrate Hanukkah with coffee, jelly doughnuts, dreidels, and conversation. All told, they disseminated nearly a thousand fliers and entertained over a dozen clients at our residence for low-income seniors. Each of these communities was impacted by the group's invaluable help.

Thank you all once again for your help and great work!

Volunteer Opportunities for Teens

Yesterday, Met Council participated in the TeenLife Live 2012 Expo. Together with about 40 other local non-profit organizations, we exposed and engaged teens to volunteer opportunities available to them.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics teens are the least likely to volunteer out of any demographic. It was therefore exciting to see so many middle and high school aged students so ready to invest in their community, and rewarding to be able to provide ways for them to do so.

People often assume that teens lack the passion and resources to really be able to take ownership of their community. In New York, there is also the assumption that opportunities are hard to get to. At Met Council, we know that this is not true – there are many opportunities that young people can engage in and they are in all five boroughs. Here are just a few:

Senior Lunch Program: Serve hot kosher meals every Sunday to 20-25 low-income seniors at one of our housing sites in Kips Bay, Manhattan. Some volunteer duties include setting up, waiting on the clients, serving lunch, and – most importantly – socializing and promoting community building.

Masbia: Help out at our kosher soup kitchen to provide nutritious meals through serving or food preparation. The soup kitchen operates from Sunday to Thursday.

Benefits Outreach (great for school groups!): Spend a day or an hour in your neighborhood with your friends to spread awareness about public benefits that low-income individuals can receive from the government by putting up flyers in local restaurants and other public places.

Are you a teen? Would you like to get involved with and give back to your community? Where there is a will there is a way and Met Council is there to help you find it. Contact volunteer@metcouncil.org to get started!