Volunteerism was the big topic at Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance’s (OAYA) annual breakfast meeting held March 20 at LakePoint Community Church.
Keynote speaker Mary Schusterbauer, chief of Oakland County Youth Assistance, called volunteers a vital part of “the fabric of our society.”
Every year, 63 million people in the United States donate their time and talents, according to the Washington D.C.-based Independent Sector, a national membership organization that brings together nonprofits, foundations and corporations to advance the common good.
Schusterbauer said those millions of people are busy improving communities by coaching Little League teams, leading scout troops and running church programs.
“All those things would not happen if it weren’t for volunteers,” she said.
Youth Assistance, which has offices in every school district in the county, is no exception.
According to Schusterbauer, between 900 and 1,000 Youth Assistance volunteers from across the county annually dedicate between 45,000 and 50,000 hours to young people and their families.
Given volunteer time is worth $24.69 per hour, according to Independent Sector, “that is a humongous value to your community and to our county,” she told the crowd.
Youth Assistance’s mission is to strengthen youth and families while reducing the amount of delinquency, abuse and neglect through community involvement.
Despite all those hours, Schusterbauer said Youth Assistance “never (has) enough volunteers” and is “always looking for (more) because the more volunteers you have, the more you can do to actually accomplish your mission.”
To that end, she challenged OAYA board members, volunteers and sponsors to come up with a quick “elevator speech” that explains to people they encounter what motivated them to get involved with or support the organization.
“You need to talk about why it’s important to you, why it moves you and why they really need to be involved,” Schusterbauer said.
For more information about volunteering, call the OAYA office at (248) 969-5187.
| What did Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance
accomplish in 2018?* |
| OAYA spent $2,188 in sponsorships to send 13 students to three day camps last summer – Camp Skyline, Echo Grove Salvation Army Camp and Oxford Cheer Camp. |
| Approximately 378 Oxford Middle School sixth-graders watched an educational film on the penalties involved when people are caught shoplifting. |
| At the annual Youth Recognition ceremony in May, 44 young people were honored for their service to their schools and the community. |
| OAYA nominated eight children to participate in the 11th Annual Shop with a Hero event at the Oxford Meijer in December. They each got dinner and received Meijer gift cards to purchase Christmas presents for themselves and/or family members. |
| In December, OAYA held a Christmas party for children and parents at Legacy 925 in Oxford Township. Guests ate dinner, played laser tag, bounced on trampolines and played video games. |
| * Information taken from OAYA’s 2018 Annual Report. |
Youth Assistance puts out call for more volunteers added by CJ Carnacchio on
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