YVC Busy Bees

Our blog is now decorated to reflect the lives of our YVC members.  That is, very busy! 
At our last meeting with our leadership committee we were talking about slogans and hashtags we could use.  YVC Busy Bees came up almost as a joke, but we ended up liking it and it stuck!  And boy, is it true!  These youth volunteers have been incredibly busy making a difference in their community this summer.  Here is a glimpse of what the month of July looked like for our YVC Busy Bees!

Iron County Care and Share:
The Iron County Care and Share is a food pantry that helps individuals and families who are in need of assistance.  Care and Share offers opportunities for those in need to increase their stability and self-sufficiency.  Here at YVC we are dedicated to helping Care and Share reach their goals.  We do this through our bi-monthly scavenger hunts in which we raise food and other items to be donated to Care and Share.  In July our busy bees spent many hours, as a group and individually, sorting and stocking food as well as helping customers. 









Reading in the Park: 
This is an ongoing program YVC, along with Foster Grandparents (FGP), started at the beginning of the summer.  Anyone under the age of 18 can go to Main Street Park in Cedar City or Liberty Park in Enoch and receive a free lunch through The Summer Lunch Program.  Every Tuesday and Thursday YVC and FGP are there to read with the kids in an effort to help kids stay interested in reading, and build upon their skills through the summer months. 

Cedar City Animal Shelter:
Back in March, we hosted a Gala and Silent Auction to raise funds to help grow our program and our impact.  At the Gala, we auctioned our volunteer hours for each month of the summer.  The winner, Marylin, won the auction for June, July, and August, asked us to volunteer at several Animal Shelters through the summer.  The kids were of course ecstatic!  What is better then volunteering with animals?  In July we 'worked' at the Cedar City Animal Shelter, walking dogs, socializing kittens, and cleaning cages/pens.

Waterproofing Old Enoch Park:
If you are ever looking for volunteer opportunities, contact your local parks department, there is always something that needs to be done, and often very little funds to do it with.  Old Enoch Park has two buildings and two dugouts that needed to be waterproofed to protect them from the elements.  YVC stepped up to the job and spent a day at the park working to preserve the buildings, all while playing Never Have I Ever. 

Henry's Place:
Henry's Place is a summer camp and retreat center here in Southern Utah with a mission to impact the lives of underprivileged at-risk urban youth.  Henry's Place is being built in the memory of Las Vegas Police Office Henry Prendes who died in the line of duty.  Officer Prendes dreamed of building a summer camp to help at risk youth make a difference in their lives.  His dream is becoming a reality as volunteers work hard and come together to meet the needs of the camp.  In July YVC spent a beautiful day at the camp site clearing weeds and plants, and leveling the ground to build a trial alongside a river bed.


Blue Moon Dance: 
In YVC's continued efforts to help our local food pantries, we hosted a Blue Moon Dance and Canned Food Drive.  The dance was held on the night of the blue moon, July 31st.  We even had a live DJ volunteer his time and talents to make the night really come together. With the community's help we raised over 175 pounds of food to be donated to the local pantries.  That brings our total to 1200 pounds of food we have raised for the local pantries this summer. 

YVC also spent time volunteering at Cedar Breaks helping with the Wild Flower Festival, passing out flyers at the Pioneer Day Parade for Relay for Life, and helping with the Red Rock Summer Kids Camp, among many other volunteer opportunities through YVC and their own interests. 

Iron County YVC is 100% non-funded and we couldn't do what we do without the help of our sponsors: Five County Community Action Plan, Delcore Direct Care, and The Print Shoppe, as well as Cedar City Chili's and their Give Back Night.  Thank you to all who have helped and supported us! We would spend our summer no other way than helping and giving back to the community we live in.