Praise Our Peeps February 25, 2024
YSA (Youth Services America) YOUTH SERVICE MONTH
Curated by Vicki Stockbridge
Rally Your Youth and Participate in a Youth Service Month Partner Event – Start thinking about how you’ll take action this year!
The countdown is on! The Annual Global Youth Service Day is coming soon (April 26-28), YSA invites you to start thinking about how you’ll take action this year by:
- planning Awareness, Service, Advocacy, or Philanthropy projects,
- organizing voter registration & education activities,
- recognizing & celebrating young changemakers, and/or
- identifying & addressing barriers to youth participation in your community.
Global Youth Service Day weekend (April 26-28), is the midpoint of Youth Service Month (Friday, April 12 – Sunday, May 12).
GYSD is organized by Youth Service America with support from The Hershey Company, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Allstate Foundation, and the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation… and is powered by you!
The event celebrates 36 years of youth changing the world and is described as the longest-running annual youth participation event globally. It uniquely encourages youth ages 5-25 to collaborate for the common good while also recognizing the ongoing impact that youth make on their communities throughout the entire year. The goal is to bring together youth from different backgrounds and empower them to contribute positively to their communities during this designated period of celebration.
You make GYSD happen by organizing activities in your schools and communities!
For GYSD 2024, YSA suggests 4 types of GYSD activities:
1. Lead ASAP Projects - Lead Awareness, Service, Advocacy, or Philanthropy projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
2. Register & Educate Young Voters - 4 million people in the U.S. turn 18 each year and become eligible to vote. Organize voter registration drives and educate new voters.
3. Celebrate Youth Service - Recognize and honor youth, staff, and partners for the work they do year-round. Tell your story to inspire others.
4. Increase Youth Service - Identify and address the barriers to increasing the quantity & quality of youth service opportunities in your community.
Find ideas and planning tools at YSA.org/GYSD.
“Global Youth Service Day,” is part of a larger initiative known as “Youth Service Month.” (April 12 – May 12)
The purpose of creating Youth Service Month is to accommodate the various youth service events that typically occur in April and May. Instead of focusing on specific dates, the celebration is extended to a full month to include all partner events.
There are many Days of Service that take place during this time. You can choose to participate in one (or more) of them and be a part of multiple national or global events with a single activity.
LEARN MORE about these Days of Service:
- Great American Cleanup - March 20 – June 21
- GLSEN Day of Silence - April 12
- J-Serve International Day of Jewish Youth Service - April 14
- Good Deeds Day - April 14
- National Week of Conversation - April 15-21
- Healthy Kids Day - April 20
- National Parks Week - April 20-28
- Month of the Military Child - April and Purple Up Day - April 21
- Global Volunteer Month - April and National Volunteer Week - April 21-27
- Earth Day - April 22
- National Student Leadership Week - April 22-26
- National Youth Violence Prevention Week - April 22-26
- Alpha Phi Omega’s Spring Youth Service Day - April 26-28
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s True Gentleman Day of Service - Ongoing
- Citizen Science Month - April 1-30
- SkillsUSA National Week of Service - May 5-11
- Kids to Parks Day - May 18
- Sodexo Servathon - April 1 – May 31
Learn more in this link.