Send comments
or questions to:
Tom Pittman
Foundation President
at tompittman@cfnm.org

Click on the GuideStar logo for financial information on your Community Foundation

 CONTACT:

Crystal McNabb                                                        Christina Wessell Batcheler

Volunteer Northwest Mississippi                                 Youth Service America

662.449.5002                                                              202-296-2992 x 128

volunteer@cfnm.org                                                   cbatcheler@ysa.org

DeSOTO COUNTY YOUTH JOIN MILLIONS OF VOLUNTEERS FOR

20TH ANNUAL GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY, APRIL 25

Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, DeSoto County's main resource for supporting and strengthening community service, will mobilize more than 8,000 high school students to participate in the 20th annual Global Youth Service Day, Friday, April 25 (and all through the month of April). Each of the county's seven public high schools began collecting can foods for a massive food collection as a competition among high schools. The food drive began April 1 and will continue until April 18 at which time the numbers from each school will be turned into the office of Volunteer Northwest Mississippi.

A unique component to the Global Youth Service Day project is the competition among high schools in CANNED STRUCTURE. Each of the schools will form teams to design and build a CANNED STRUCTURE of their choice constructed from can food they have collected. Each team may receive assistance from an engineer and/or architect as the project is designed, but the structure must be built by the students and comply with the guidelines as outlined by Volunteer Northwest Mississippi. Judges will tour the schools on Friday, April 25 and the winners will be announced as soon as the scores are tallied. The announcement of the winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd in food collected and 1st, 2nd, 3rd in CANNED STRUCTURE) will be made at the school receiving the highest score for their CANNED STRUCTURE. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the schools receiving the highest scores with the top winners in each category receiving $500 each.

At the end of the judging and award announcement on the 25th, local food pantries will collect the food from the schools to serve residents throughout DeSoto County community. According to America's Second Harvest, the Food Bank Network, as the cost of food and fuel reaches record highs, lines are growing longer and shelves are growing emptier at food banks and emergency feeding organizations nationwide.

"Volunteer Northwest Mississippi is an initiative of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, and working through Youth Service America and Global Youth Service Day is another way of fulfilling our mission of connecting people who care with causes that matter." (Peggy Linton, Volunteer Center Director). "We are proud to be associated with Youth Service America and to offer this opportunity to our youth, many of which are already deeply involved in volunteer activities through their schools, churches and other organizations. This Global Youth Service Day project offers every high school student in DeSoto County an opportunity to get involved." The project, YOU CAN HELP, is being offered as a service-learning project with suggested curriculum provided to each high school. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Nov 2007) Mississippi is the hungriest state in the nation - and it's getting worse. 18.1% of Mississippi's households struggled with hunger in 2006. That is more than half a million people. The percentage is up from 2005, when 16.5% of Mississippi's households struggled. "Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, through our youth volunteers, wants to make a difference." (Crystal McNabb, Volunteer Coordinator)

Global Youth Service Day is the largest youth service event in the world. GYSD is a year-round effort to expand the impact of the youth service movement. The initiative launches new service organizations, policy changes, and sustainable service programs to create a culture of engaged youth. State Farm Companies Foundation is the presenting sponsor. More than 125 national partners and 70 lead agencies throughout the United States organize campaigns. Youth Service America seeks to improve communities by increasing the number and diversity of young people, ages 5-25, serving in important roles. Founded in 1986, YSA is an international nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations in more than 100 countries to expand the impact of the youth service movement with families, communities, schools, corporations, and governments.

For more information about Global Youth Service Day and to see a comprehensive project list, visit www.YSA.org/map. To find out more about the local YOU CAN HELP project, call Crystal McNabb, Volunteer Northwest Mississippi at 662-449-5002 or visit www.volunteernwms.org.