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Children’s involvement in service produces a valuable benefit to community and enables young people to become active members of society. The community and the student gain mutual benefit from such involvement. Young people gain self esteem, a love for their community and they feel the joy of giving back. At United Way we are committed to providing a multitude of experiences for children to explore and learn from.
Plant Hope
With the goal of helping students experience the joy of giving back to their community through volunteering, United Way of Champaign County, with generous support from community partners sponsors Plant Hope. Students and staff from local middle schools visit area senior center and plant hope by delivering blooming plants, presenting musical selections and visiting with residents.
Plant Hope 2008 will take place on Wednesday, April 30 with students from Edison, Franklin and Jefferson Middle Schools in Champaign and Urbana Middle School. Generous support from community partners such as Parkland College and Prairie Gardens makes Plant Hope possible.
Family Volunteer Event
dream big. family volunteers make it happen.
Families working together can make a big difference. United Way of Champaign County has partnered with the Champaign County YMCA to help build strong families through volunteering. Families gather at the YMCA's Fitness and Family Center in Champaign to make a difference by participating in hands-on volunteer opportunities for six different agencies. This gives families with children in grades K-5 a way to try on different kinds of volunteering to see what fits for them. Dinner is provided, along with fun giveaways and great activities.
For more information, please contact Lynn Peisker at United Way of Champaign County at 217.352.5151.
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Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute |
 
PYLi at Parkland College - July 14-24, 2008
Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute (PYLI) provides young people with encouragement, peer networks, and leadership skills they can use to make meaningful, life-long contributions to their communities. Created in 1996 by Prudential Financial and then transferred to the Points of Light Foundation in 2004, PYLI is a state-of-the-art training for youth ages 13 to 18 that builds leadership and service skills. The Institute includes a curriculum with lessons and activities focused on community needs, goal setting, and team building, hands-on experience, and the organization and implementation of a community service project.
United Way of Champaign County held its first PYLi in July 2007 with 13 students from five Champaign County high schools attending. The hope is to use PYLI to cultivate the future leaders of Champaign County by helping youth to visualize community needs, grow in leadership and service, create a plan, and address community needs through action and volunteerism. The next PYLi will be held in conjunction with Parkland College's PC4U program in July 2008.
Check out the comments from local PYLi participants was positive. They said:
- The program helped give me a better vision on how to address problems, and it taught be to think outside the box to find a solution.
- I really enjoyed getting to know everyone at the camp! I had a great time with these people, especially when volunteering at Champaign Christian Health Center (CCHC). I also learned valuable things about the most effective types of leadership.
- I just learned a lot from the diverse group present at the camp. My high school is not diverse at all in contrast, so to be in such a diverse environment for two weeks was great.
Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute: Change the world. Start here.
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