Hands On Atlanta Celebrates Youth Service Day

On Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22, nearly 4,000 Hands On Atlanta volunteers participated in over 60 youth-led projects throughout the metro area. Their volunteer service was part of the 19th annual National & Global Youth Service Day, which is sponsored locally by The Coca-Cola Company. State Farm Companies Foundation serves as the national presenting sponsor.

National & Global Youth Service Day is the annual highlight of Hands On Atlanta’s Youth Service Program. Over the two-day event, volunteers engaged in service opportunities ranging from sharing a day with seniors to working on community beautification projects.

Volunteers in central Fulton helped to revitalize public spaces at Enjoy Art Design Group, which provides an integrated art-based curriculum to metro youths. Hands On Atlanta volunteer Gwendolyn Turner brought her son and his friend to the Enjoy Art Design Group project. "It was the second time my son, and the first time his friend, volunteered with a Hands On Atlanta project. †Helping to beautify the park was great. We will participate again next year," said Ms. Turner.

Over 100 volunteers in south Fulton participated in a beautification project at CAMP (Community Alliance of Metropolitan Parkway). "This was my first outdoor volunteer experience," said Hands On Atlanta volunteer, Sharriette Finley. "It was hard work, yet definitely worth it. What an invigorating experience to work together to beautify our communities!"

In addition, National & Global Youth Service Day served as a kick-off for a new partnership with Hands On Schools and The Home Depot. More than 200 volunteers from The Home Depot, UPS, Hands On Atlanta’s schools-based AmeriCorps team and the community refurbished learning spaces, painted student-inspired murals and quotes, built green space and outdoor classrooms at John F. Kennedy Middle School and Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. "I loved working at my former middle school and making it a better learning environment," said 16-year-old Chanterries Roberts, who volunteered at Kennedy Middle School. In Atlanta, the year-long Hands On Schools partnership will provide both middle schools with an investment of skilled volunteers and donations. Nationwide, Hands On Schools aims to transform 100 school communities in 100 days over a two-year period.

After the projects, volunteers descended on Georgia Tech’s camp for a celebration of service with music provided by the RockCorps mobile truck and entertainment by REI and the Atlanta Braves Foundation.

National & Global Youth Service Day is the largest volunteer service event in the world, engaging millions of youth and focusing international attention on the amazing leadership of young people. Locally, Hands On Atlanta led a coalition team of area schools and nonprofit agencies in planning and implementing youth-led service projects.


About Hands On Atlanta

In the late 1980s, Hands On Atlanta sparked a grassroots volunteer movement in Atlanta, igniting a dynamic service model that has since spread to communities across the country. As the nation’s largest community-based volunteer service organization, Hands On Atlanta brings people together every day to transform neighborhoods, support nonprofit organizations and strengthen our city’s public schools.

Hands On Atlanta is an affiliate of Hands On Network, an international alliance of volunteer organizations with 58 affiliates in the U.S., the Netherlands, the Philippines, Brazil, China and South Africa. For more information on Hands On Atlanta, call 404-979-2800 or visit www.HandsOnAtlanta.org.