On Tuesday, September 23, KidsMatter hosted their 6th annual Volunteer Fair at the City Municipal Center from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. As our young Naperville residents consider their extracurricular activities, KidsMatter wants to connect them with opportunities that will give them a sense of purpose, provide them with valuable hands-on experiences they can build on for college and into adulthood and ignite the volunteer spirit that has helped make Naperville the thriving community it is today.
As such KidsMatter hosted the 6th Annual Volunteer Fair for students in grades 6 and up. The purpose of this event was to connect local area students who are interested in volunteering their time and energy with a wide variety of local agencies/organizations that provide volunteer service opportunities for young people.
Over thirty organizations who need youth volunteers in order to deliver their services to the community participated in this year’s Fair. These are locally-based groups such as Naper Settlement, American Cancer Society, DuPage P.A.D.S., St. Patrick’s Residence, Loaves & Fishes, Feed My Starving Children, Heritage YMCA, DuPage Easter Seals, Hesed House, and DuPage Children’s Museum to name a few. Each organization had representatives on-hand to speak to interested young people about the opportunities they provide.
Students from all area middle and high schools were invited to participate in this free Fair, along with youth groups from faith communities. This year we are also excited to announce that groups offered family volunteering! Last year, over 700 students attended. Parents were welcome to accompany their students.
Did you know that forty four percent of adults volunteer and two thirds of these people began volunteering when they were young?
By providing teens with useful roles in the community, both our young people and our community are enriched. Young people are given an outlet in which they can share their ideas, knowledge and creativity, therefore experiencing, first hand, the rewards of service to others. They also experience other non-parent adult role models within the organization in which they volunteer.
Since Naperville schools highly encourage community service, and many colleges are looking at this area of a student’s life as they consider admission applications, this is an ideal way to facilitate these volunteer connections for our community’s students.
This year’s event is being partially funded by a grant from The Naperville Rotary Club. With their mission of “Service above Self”, the KidsMatter Volunteer Fair supports Rotary’s belief that service is a core value we need to integrate into the lives of our youth through practical experiences.
For more information about this event, please contact IdaLynn Wenhold, KidsMatter Executive Director, kidsmatter@wideopenwest.com or 630-404-4589.
KidsMatter, formerly known as The Naperville Youth Development Coalition, is a not-for-profit corporation organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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