We saw a forgotten, vandalized park in Kansas City.

On National Youth Service Day 2008, we will be converting the forgotten, vandalized park in Kansas City’s urban core into a thriving, environmentally friendly community gathering place. We are partnering with our local Parks and Recreation Department to select the park that most needs our support. Our efforts will focus on turning the park into an inviting gathering place for the community through the maintenance or addition of welcoming signs, adequate lighting, colorful and inviting trash receptacles, sturdy park benches and playground equipment in addition to well-maintained playing fields. The manpower behind our achievements will focus on the recruitment of about 50 other young people as volunteers, the bulk of which will be between the ages of 11 and 18. This will not only show the youth involved in the project what a group of committed, like-minded young people are capable of achieving, but it will also show the surrounding community that today’s youth are a positive force in Kansas City. As these same youth volunteers are actively involved in the planning stages as well as the implementation of the National Youth Service Day project, they are gaining community development skills that they can carry with them to improve their communities throughout their lives.

The culmination of our National Youth Service Day project will be a community celebration. We will be inviting the members of the park’s surrounding neighborhood to participate in a barbeque and kickball tournament. The benefits of this celebration are twofold: the youth will be rewarded for all of their planning and hard work while providing a showcase of their efforts for the community, and it will also serve as an unofficial ribbon cutting ceremony so the neighborhood will be able to see the park in a new, revitalized light.

If you'd like more information on how to start my project in YOUR area, please leave me a comment!