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
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Hey League-ers!
ReplyDeleteI’m Sarah Cronk, and I’m the vice chair of the NYC. I’m super excited about this blog and being to communicate with other kids who share my passion for service. One of the first things I like to do when I introduce myself is two let other teens in on two secrets: First, as teens, we are powerful beyond measure. We have the power to positively impact the lives of other young people and, in doing so, raise the spirits of an entire nation. Second, the more we give, the more we get. By enriching the lives of our peers, we enrich our own lives.
As teens we are uniquely positioned to be socially inclusive toward those less fortunate. I have the opportunity to be inclusive through my involvement with the Pleasant Valley Spartan Sparkles, a cheerleading team that includes 10 girls with disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to autism, and my non-profit corporation, The Sparkle Effect, which was formed to inspire the creation of similar cheerleading squads nationwide. These programs, however, are merely representative of something much bigger: the idea that, as teens, we must take responsibility for the role we play in the quality of each other's experiences.
This may have started out as a simple community service project. For me, it has become a crusade. And, it's not just about generating cheerleading squads that include students with disabilities. It is about helping teens understand that we must pick up where federal legislation stops. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) mandates that, whenever possible, students with disabilities must be educated with their typically-developing peers in regular classrooms. That's all well and good but, as teens, we know better than anyone that what matters most is social acceptance.
No one is better positioned than we teens are to send the simple and powerful message: It's cool to care.