Hands4Hope program goes virtual for youth leadership

The Hands4Hope Education Program staff, with the help of the Hands4Hope Youth Board Executive Committee, designed and facilitated two virtual retreats for more than 60 middle and high school youth leaders. Both retreats, "A Great Time to Be Alive" and "The Show Must Go On," were designed in theme and energy to continue with the approach of moving forward during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hands4Hope High School Leadership Retreat retreat had 30 youth leaders from seven local high schools and the Middle School Leadership Retreat had 31 youth leaders from six local middle schools in attendance. Youth leaders had the opportunity to work in their school teams to reflect on year-to-date successes and challenges, as well as collaborate with peers to review their own progress on personal leadership goals. Guest speaker Sara Warden, executive assistant to the Waste Connections Board chairman, facilitated a workshop on professional marketing. The workshop further introduced youth leaders to creating social media graphics, presentations and other visual content. It also covered the importance of branding materials, as well as how to create a timeline for marketing service projects on social media. Five high school leaders volunteered to be middle school mentors and facilitate the half-day middle school retreat where they reworked the marketing workshop and presented a two-part workshop. The workshop covered the basics of branding for flier creation, as well as how to author a professionally-written email to a local business professional. Additionally, they divided the day into several workshops designed to allow the youth leaders to reflect on their successes and challenges, evaluate their team collaborations and make new leadership goals for the second half of the year. According to Hands4Hope Youth Board Vice President Pavitra Dobaria, "Planning and participating in the mid-year retreat with Hands4Hope high school leaders this year was so much fun and such a great experience for me. Everyone adjusted so well with this year's situation and having to make it online, and it felt very productive and engaging… I loved to be able to reconnect with leaders I haven't seen or spoken to in a while, and see how they've grown as leaders and what their clubs have accomplished. Clubs are adjusting well to online meetings and it was interesting to see all the creativity of the other leaders." Adding fun and creativity to the mix, the high schoolers joined their retreat wearing costumes from different time periods to go along with the retreat theme, "A Great Time To Be Alive." The middle schoolers tuned in wearing costumes from a Netflix or Disney+ show to go along with their retreat theme, "The Show Must Go On." Team building games ran throughout the retreat for each school club and committee team to give and take note of clues to guess what each team represented. "I loved the energy throughout the retreat. I could tell how much time and effort went into planning it through all the fun games and activities we did," noted Oak Ridge Hands4Hope Club Vice President Bella Hsueh. "I learned the preferred fonts, colors, and logos to use; this will help me if I need to create something for my club on Canva," shared Herbert Green Hands4Hope Club Secretary Sopia Hinchliffe. Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference staff and youth leaders have worked hard through the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure participating youth still have the opportunity to learn about their community and design and implement service projects to fill unmet needs. At the midway point through the program year, Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference youth-led clubs and committees have already completed 20 service projects, raised $9,767, and collected 2,220 items and 3,623 pounds of food. Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference is a nonprofit, youth-driven organization with the mission to inspire and empower youth in leadership and service. Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference offers hands-on education and community engagement opportunities to youth from kindergarten through 12th grades through school-based and after-school programs in Sacramento and El Dorado counties. For more information about Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference, visit www.hands4hopeyouth.org or call 916-294-7426.