Youth Action

Family Volunteer Day, powered by generationOn, the youth service division of Points of Light, and sponsored by The Walt Disney Company, is a day of service that demonstrates and celebrates the power of families who volunteer together, supporting their communities and neighborhoods.

As the final stop on the company’s 2016 tour of volunteer events across its network, CSX hosted a day of service at Windsor Hills Elementary School in Baltimore, Md. More than 130 volunteers from CSX, Windsor Hills, and nonprofit organizations City Year and Action for Healthy Kids joined together to improve the school.

Establishing a strong sense of belonging and purpose, both on campus and in the larger community is essential to engaging and retaining students. For many students, college represents their first taste of true independence, away from parents, teachers and other authority figures. Their actions are their own, and the decision whether or not to get involved is up to them. For college and university administrators, it is imperative that they establish an environment, on campus and beyond, that fosters a sense of belonging so students have the best opportunity to succeed academically, socially and civically.

Responsible alcohol consumption and prevention are often the focus of outreach and education programs on college campuses. Programs designed to reach students and young people in recovery are often overlooked.

In the latest chapter of the President to President series, published today, E. Gordon Gee, Ph.D., president of West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va. explores ways in which colleges and universities can instill a sense of community in students while also supporting resiliency in the face of adversity throughout the region.

Keep The Rez Beautiful has an extraordinary volunteer who has a passion for keeping the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Ridgeland, Mississippi, clean and beautiful! Nine-year-old Rebecca (Becca) Blair has been picking up litter and volunteering for kayak cleanups around the Reservoir and down the Pearl River, since she was 4!

Another one of our Ideas that Matter winners are Mai Kobori, Eulani Labay, Amy Findeiss from Parsons, The New School for Design. They worked with Blank Plate to create their Trainer’s Playbook, which is a toolkit and workbook that incorporates Blank Plate’s 10-week culinary design curriculum, empowering community leaders to become facilitators.

Before joining Norfolk Southern in 1999, Stephen Young had never been involved in community volunteer work. Now, Young, manager intermodal equipment, is a fixture with the Norfolk Thoroughbred Volunteers. He has twice earned Volunteer of the Year award for most volunteer hours and has chaired the group for the past year.

As a part of its series of volunteer events across its network, CSX hosted a day of service at Mt. Herman Exceptional Student Center, part of Duval County Public Schools, in Jacksonville, Fla. on Saturday, November 5. CSX employees gathered with school leaders and teachers, along with the company’s national service partners City Year and Action for Healthy Kids, to complete projects to make the school cleaner and greener, and encourage physical activity among students.

In this era of sparring bipartisan political agendas and unapologetic mudslinging among campaigning rivals, it can be challenging not to get sucked into a downward spiral of negativity each time you turn on the news or read your feed.