Our local service programs reach new heights

Many people think Youthlinc is an international service organization, and certainly we have significant accomplishments with our partners and partner villages all over the globe. However, local service is the heart of Youthlinc, critical to our mission of creating lifetime humanitarians.

Under the direction of Jerika Mays, the Youthlinc Local Service Director, our local service reached new heights in our 2014-2015 program year. Below is a recap: Stay tuned for even more local service emphasis in our 2015-2016 program year! Thank you, Jerika, for your outstanding service to Utah youth through Youthlinc.

 Service Year:

1. Increased training, expectations, evaluation, and feedback for 8 Assistant Team Leaders (ATLs), overseeing 212 high school and college students, contributing 17,810 hours of verified community service.

2. Increased focus and mentoring of our Service Year students in their local service placements:

• During the December Team Meeting, ATLs and Alum Leaders inspired students by talking about their own local service experience and sharing tips for how to get the most out of community service.
• ATLs and Alum Leaders mentored students in selecting a quality main service site after completing the Local Service Interest Survey–a survey that asks student to identify the community issues they are passionate about.
• During several Team Meetings, students completed a Local Service Reflection Assignment in order to help them reflect-upon and internalize their local service experiences and share those experiences with others.

3. Increased promotion of the local service contributed:

• 25+ students were highlighted at their main service site on Youthlinc social media–Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Youthlinc Utah Local Service Directory

Increased search capabilities: Now search the 150+ organizations in our online Utah Directory based on minimum age requirements, thus allowing users ages 16 and younger to find volunteer opportunities in a positive mentoring atmosphere.

Increased partnerships:

1. Local Service Director sent a personalized email to each student’s volunteer supervisor thanking him or her for verifying hours. The responses were unanimous in thanking Youthlinc for sending reliable and engaged volunteers. The Director created a blog highlighting the organization’s logo and positive feedback.

2. Students outside of Youthlinc will now use the Directory to track hours and verify those hours with a supervisor through a partnership with the United Way Outreach Center at Kearns High School.

Youthlinc Utah Young Humanitarian Award

Increased funding: Additional funds secured for the $3,000 runner-up award scholarship and five $500 honorable mention awards.

Improved application: Service resume portion of the application was standardized so judges are able to make better comparisons between applications.

Increased feedback: Application judges provided positive and constructive feedback for every applicant. Applicants who didn’t make it into the interview round received that feedback as well as a “Young Humanitarian” sticker.

Increased promotion:

• The Award received applications from rural Utah communities including Bear River High School, Carbon High School, Delta High School, Emery High School, and Parowan High School.
• The Local Service Director arranged speaking engagements for the Award winner to share his story of service and inspire students at the Utah Campus Compact Retreat and Utah-Idaho Key Club Conference.