Middle Schoolers Become Young Heroes
At this point in the summer, parents might be getting tired of seeing their kids sit on the couch on a Saturday morning watching television or surfing the Web. To encourage children to get actively involved in the community, City Year offers a program for middle school age students that will have them giving back to others.
The Early Show examined a program called "Young Heroes" that provides opportunities for younger kids to participate in community service.
City Year is a national volunteer program for young adults, usually between the ages of 17 and 24, which places these people on the front lines of community service.
The Young Heroes program takes sixth through eighth graders every Saturday for 16 weeks into different areas to better society. Each volunteer is placed in a group of 8 to 12 middle-school students. The Young Heroes begin their Saturday by participating in team activities and receive training on that day's social issue topic.
Afternoons consist of teams splitting up and traveling across their respective cities to participate in community service projects that address the topic that they learned about in the morning. Previous topics have included youth violence, aging and the elderly, as well as hunger and homelessness.
Each member of the program aspires to become a "Young Hero." In order to reach this goal, each student must perform 100 hours of community service by doing things like cleaning up neighborhoods, visiting nursing homes, and helping the homeless.
In addition to helping others, these young volunteers help themselves. Damon McCasker, 12, said that his involvement in the Young Heroes program has boosted his self-esteem. "I used to be nervous about a lot of things, just as I'm nervous about this (interview) right now, but I'm not that nervous anymore because I feel confident," he said.
Sabrina Sanchez, a Young Hero, emphasized that she chose to be a part of the program and is thrilled to give back. She said, "You don't have to be a certain age to start community service. It's not like we're being forced to do any of this."
Sanchez also encouraged her friends to join and that has added to her City Year experience. "Most of my friends are in City Year," she said, "because I brought them to it."
McCasker appeared proud of his ability to help the homeless. He discussed the responses that he receives from people when they see him holding a sign that says "Help Me Feed the Homeless."
He said, "(People) came up to us and they said, 'Wow, you guys are really making a difference and I hope my children or son can do this next year.' "