How You Can Help

There are many ways to help the your community, whether by cleaning up a park or serving food at a soup kitchen. One of the best ways to get ideas is to think about what we take for granted in our lives. Brainstorming the things we take for granted may seem silly, but many of these things are absent from the lives of those less fortunate. Very few people wonder if children occupying our homeless shelters ever get that one special day of the year when they get to celebrate themselves.

My brother is an exception to that statement. He is currently helping with a project to bring birthday parties to those less fortunate. In White Plains, NY the Coachman Family Center houses about one hundred families that do not have a place to live. Every other month a group of dedicated middle-schoolers puts on an old-fashioned birthday party for anyone who has had a birthday within the past two months. Some of these kids have never gotten presents let alone had a birthday party, and to see the smiles on the kid’s faces makes all the effort worthwhile. There are lots of ideas out there; hosting a birthday party is just one idea, why don’t you tell us yours.

-Alex Harelick

A Little Bit About Me and The National Youth Commission

My name is Alex Harelick, I am a teenager from White Plains, New York and I am trying to improve the world. Since I was two I have loved to swim and over the past five years I used my swimming abilities to help raise money for worthy charities, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Cancer. I have raised over 25,000 dollars since then, however, I knew I had to do more on a bigger scale. I wanted to be part of a group consisting of kids my age that all had the same aspirations as I did. So, in 2008 I submitted my service project to The League for the All-American Service Team Competition. I was awarded third place and became part of the All-American Service Team, which then made me part of the National Youth Commission.

I knew from our first phone call that these were kids who wanted to help others and do something greater than themselves. We are just getting the ball rolling and we need more dedicated volunteers to really push forward. Anyone who enjoys helping others, whether it is by helping the elderly in your own neighborhood or planning a national service day should join. The National Youth Commission is dedicated to helping those less fortunate; if you would like to make a contribution to your community, your state or even your country please contact YouthCommission@leagueworldwide.org or join out facebook group at National Youth Commission.

-Alex Harelick

Pepsi Refresh

In modern society where youth spend more time watching TV, playing video games, and instant messaging than theydo hanging out with friends (live) or spending time in their communities, it is clear that something needs to change. Many students ranging from kindergartners to 12th
graders have the interest and passion to "do good", but they neither have the knowledge to carry out the task, nor the resources to do so. That's where The LEAGUE, along with The LEAGUE National Youth Commission (NYC), come in.

The LEAGUE National Youth Commission is a group ofhigh-school and young college students that serve as national youth philanthropic leaders. We serve three main purposes: to stand as advocates in support of The LEAGUE, to serve as a think-tank to generate new ideas
for The LEAGUE, and to monitor The LEAGUE programs while serving as youth representatives for The LEAGUE.

All-in-all, our goal is to share and spread our personalspirits and interests in service and to figure out how to get others in our communities to become involved and find
their own interests in doing good. While many people argue that they "don't have a cause to
serve" or that it may not be fun to be altruistic, truly everyone has something that they can give back to and doing good is one of the most rewarding activities that one can do.

As the National Youth Commission, we need to figure out how to initially get others engaged in service so that they can come to realize the pride, self-fulfillment, and fun that result from doing good. Then we must help them maintain involvement in a project or for a cause that interests them. In order to achieve these goals, the National Youth Commission has and is looking for a member base of diverse students with varied charitable interests, such as health, education,
environment, economics, and community. If you are someone who has a passion for a cause and would like to help spread that spirit of community, then The LEAGUE National Youth Commission is for you.

To become a member, please email your name, grade, school, and state to
youthcommission@leagueworldwide.org.

Best,
Daniel Fine
Chair of the National Youth Commission