On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2021, the YSP-SFP leaders helped to coordinate volunteers to help the B.A.S.I.C Ministry with their hot Thanksgiving meal giveaway they hold for the Oakland Community. The local YSP Coordinator, Gabby von Euw, shared a report and words from herself and volunteers about how they had an incredibly meaningful experience through this service project and were reminded about the value of being able to serve.
Read Full Story by Gabby von Euw, YSP Coordinator
Hosted by Pastor Mustafa from B.A.S.I.C Ministry, volunteers from multiple organizations and youth groups, including Youth and Students for Peace - Service for Peace (YSP-SFP) gathered to hold a Thanksgiving grocery giveaway on the evening of November 22, 2021. The volunteers prepared boxes of fresh produce, canned goods, turkeys, chickens, and Thanksgiving ingredients to distribute to families from the Oakland, California community. They were also joined by Councilmember, Treva Reid, who came to support the event and personally connect with members of the community.
Read Full Story by YSP-SFP Leader, Julia Chai
Leading up to Thanksgiving Day, one YSP member joined members of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) and around 30 other volunteers in Newark, New Jersey to help with a turkey distribution hosted by the United Community Corporation (UCC), a nonprofit organization that is one of the city’s oldest community action agencies. Taking place outside at the Westside Park Football Field on November 22, 2021, volunteers from many organizations and groups participated, including Senator Cory Booker. The YSP volunteer shared that he had tons of fun. There was lively music and the staff was “very friendly and excellent”. Lots of clothes and food was given away for free. UCC organizes events once or twice a month to help the city of Newark and help to inform and provide resources for residents in need on things such as where to get vaccines, rental assistance, food distribution, and more. They offer many volunteer opportunities and even paid positions. “I even had a guy hand me a card to be a firefighter”.
On November 20, 2013, Shine City Project visited the All Friends Animal Sanctuary again, but this time to help another organization: the LasVegan Food Pantry. The pantry is a non-profit organization which helps to provide healthy and nutritious vegan food supplies for individuals and families in Las Vegas. Twice a month on Saturday mornings, All Friends Animal Sanctuary helps to host distribution events for the LasVegan Food Pantry. Shine City’s ten volunteers helped to prepare boxes and grocery bags that each contained various food items such as apples, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, couscous, and even gluten-free pad thai noodles.
Later that day the volunteer group received a tour around the sanctuary and had the opportunity to feed and get to know the animals in residence better. After the tour they spent the remaining time at the sanctuary helping to clean out the sheep pen. It was a smelly and dirty job, but they wouldn’t mind coming to help out again!
Saturday, November 20, 2021 was a clear, sunny day a little on the chilly side. Bundled up and ready with grabbers and buckets, a couple YSP New Jersey members had a simple “Pick and Walk” clean up around the local train station and down the road where litter tends to collect or get tossed away. They also had a little helper join them for the walk.
Being aware of the recent flooding and the problems of blocked storm drains, the duo also uncovered a storm drain blocked with leaves along their route. After an hour and a half of litter cleaning two full bags of trash and two buckets of recyclables were collected then sorted and sent to the recycling center.
On November 13, 2021, Shine City Project once again helped out at Wetlands Park. The five Shine City Project volunteers joined others in helping to put in native plants in an area of the nature preserve. A couple of the plants that were planted were desert globemallow, a flowering shrub that is common in the Mojave desert, and saltgrass, a grass that grows in salty soil conditions at Wetlands Park. After removing the plants from their pots and putting them into their respective holes, wire cages were placed around the plants to help prevent animals such as rabbits from eating them. This will help ensure their growth and survival.
On November 6, 2021, Shine City Project visited and volunteered at The Las Vegas Farm. Established in 1961 and opened to the public since 1968, The Las Vegas Farm, and its non-profit, Barn Buddies Rescue, has been the home for rescued farm animals for 60 years! A wide variety of animals can be found there including goats, cows, horses, pigs, tortoises, alpacas, ducks, chickens, peacocks, sheep, and many others. The Las Vegas Farm hopes to educate the public about responsible animal ownership and the amount of care and effort that is involved in owning an animal. By doing so, they hope to prevent other animals from being abused, neglected, and abandoned.
For this first Saturday of November, Shine City Project had nine volunteers to help out with various tasks at the farm. Two of the volunteers were joining the group for the first time. To begin the day the group helped to feed some of the animals and exchange blankets in several animal pens. Afterwards, they were divided into small groups to help wipe down the pen rails, fix up fences, fix Christmas lights for an outdoor dance floor, and monitor the farmers market. Overall, it was a long and busy six hours at the Las Vegas Vegas Farm, but the team was happy to be of service where it was needed.
On October 30, 2021, Shine City Project partnered up with Get Outdoors Nevada for a service project at Tule Springs National Monument. Las Vegas was once a place filled with marshes and wet meadows, spring pools and ponds, and spring-fed streams where mammoths, camels, bison, ground sloths, lions, wolves, saber-toothed cats, and many more used to roam. For over a century, tens of thousands of fossils have been collected from this area.
The group of six Shine City Project volunteers met with other groups, families, and individuals to help pick up trash in the area of the National Monument. With everyone's help, more than 400 pounds of litter was collected. Though trash was sparse and hard to find for some the volunteers were overall happy to explore the area and be surrounded by its natural beauty. After the service project, the team had a picnic lunch at nearby Floyd Lamb Park and had the opportunity to walk around Gilcrease Orchard.
On October 23, 2021 several hundred volunteers gathered for the Fall 2021 Las Vegas Wash Green-Up! The Shine City Project team also participated and were joined by members of the International Leadership Training Program (ILTP) from the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand and Japan! In total there were 23 volunteers from the two groups. The volunteers helped to revegetate an area along the Las Vegas Wash by planting native trees, grasses, and shrubs. Overall, the Green-Up event attracted close to 400 volunteers who helped to put in over 4,000 native plants across 10 acres in 2 hours!
In order to commemorate the 76th Anniversary of when the UN Charter went into force and to reinvigorate the UN’s founding spirit centered upon uniting under the banner of peace, Women’s Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI) and the International Association of Youth and Students for Peace (IAYSP) organized a Virtual Forum on the topic of "The UN Dream: Intergenerational Cooperation and our Journey to Peace," on Friday, October 22, 2021. The forum was co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York.
This forum was created to bring together representatives from the elder and younger generations, where inspiration and wisdom can be exchanged, as challenges and hopes are discussed in the UN’s dream for peace. It was our great hope that this forum can provide an embracing platform where people can feel optimism for the future and once again, find hope in and strive together towards achieving the “The UN Dream.”
On October 19, 2021 a couple YSP members volunteered with 20 other volunteers at Healing Meals in Hawthorne, New Jersey. The volunteers helped to prepare meals for families who are supporting a family member battling cancer. Though the efforts are centered on caring for troubled families, “the ones who gain the most are we who serve, in so doing experiencing the heart of God,” shared the local YSP Advisor.
Climate Change is a serious topic for many, especially those that are experiencing its effects directly. With this S!NERGY event, International Association of Youth and Students for Peace (IASYP) wanted to offer young people the chance to share their ideas on ways we can help our planet and address the negative effects people are causing for the environment.
For this past October 16, 2021 competition the event’s theme was “Local Climate Action Initiatives to Model and Share”. Through personal passions and interests, three students presented their ideas on methods people and society could implement to take action for our planet and its inhabitants.
A street clean up can be a simple task but it can make a big difference. Every weekend Councilman Noel Gallo does a trash clean up in Oakland. EVERY WEEKEND! He has been very consistent for the past years living by the principles of service through his consistent actions. Going out to support this exemplary leader and serve the community through a trash clean up, local youth and young adults of Youth and Students for Peace (YSP) Service for Peace group and their network have joined Councilman Gallo on several occasions with the heart to serve the community and support him.
On October 16, 2021 a total of 17 young adults from YSP, Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), Generation Peace Academy (GPA), and the Family Federation Young Adult Ministry came together in Oakland, CA to help Councilman Noel Gallo. For this particular service, Councilman Gallo’s family also joined the volunteers for the clean up. It was inspiring for him to have his family participate and he is always inspired by the young people who gather to serve. The community also expressed their appreciation for the volunteers by saying “Thank you” as they drove by.
One of the volunteers shared their reflection about the service project:
"I had a great time helping with the Oakland clean up. I’ve done it twice now but having Mr.Gallo show us around while we were picking up trash helped me see the deeper side of his lovefor the city of Oakland. It’s telling that God also deeply loves Oakland and the rest of the BayArea." - Toshio Barber
On October 9, 2021, Shine City Project returned to Wetlands Park! For this service project,the Shine City Project volunteers welcomed members of Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) Las Vegas and Generation Peace Academy (GPA)! A total of nineteen volunteers helped to pick up litter along a section of the Wetlands Loop Trail. It was challenging at first to retrieve litter near the water channel, but with some perseverance and effort they were able to carefully make their way to the water’s edge and fill their bags with trash. During the service project, several of the volunteers also caught a glimpse of a couple coyotes! Fortunately, the coyotes didn't have much interest in the litter collecting group and the youth could observe them from a safe distance. Surprises like these are always exciting and remind us that there is life in the Mojave Desert!
On Oct. 2, 2021 International Association of Youth and Students for Peace co-hosted a S!NERGY event online with the New Jersey Ocean Tribe on the theme of “Creative Solutions to Accessing and Protecting New Jersey Waterways”. Three presentations were given live by individuals and teams of youth to a panel of judges who evaluated their theme-related ideas and proposals. Audience members watching via livestream on facebook were also able to cast their votes online during the event. Each presenter won a placement and received a cash grant.
On October 2, 2021, Shine City Project volunteered at the Vegas Roots Community Garden. Their team of seven volunteers helped to plant a variety of plants including collards, bell peppers, tomatoes, and kale. On top of planting vegetables some of the volunteers also removed grass and weeds from a couple garden beds and cleaned out the community garden’s chicken coop. It was a lovely morning to get your hands dirty while conversing with others also involved in the community garden. Additionally, Shine City Project had a father-daughter duo volunteering with them for the first time!
On September 25, 2021, in honor of National Public Lands Day, Shine City Project volunteered with Project GREEN: Friends of Pittman Wash. The five volunteers helped to remove tamarisk and other vegetation along the storm runoff. Equipped with only one handsaw and several other tools, they did their best with what they had and cleared out much of the unwanted vegetation. They enjoyed their time being outdoors helping with the project and got to see a couple roadrunners as well.
In observance of Plant a Tree Day, three youth representing Youth and Students for Peace participated in a tree planting project hosted by Keep Indianapolis Beautiful on September 25, 2021. Gathering in downtown Indianapolis, IN, the trio joined dozens of volunteers and residents of the community to plant trees in the George Kessler's Pleasant Run Parkway. The host organization’s mission is “to engage diverse communities to create vibrant public places, helping people and nature thrive”. All the volunteers were taught how to properly plant the 6 foot and taller trees and spent three hours working together as teams to plant 116 native trees all over the park. This was the YSP Indiana group’s first volunteer activity and they are looking forward to the next volunteer project they can participate in.
After more than 18 months, Shine City Project returned to Wetlands Park! On September 18, 2021, the group of volunteers met at Duck Creek Trailhead of the park in honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day. The Clark County Wetlands Park is an area of 2,900 acres along the Las Vegas Wash, and it has an important role of filtering water that collects from Las Vegas on the way to Lake Mead. The task for the morning was to help remove litter from Duck Creek Trail, particularly along the waterways. As the volunteers collected litter, they were asked to keep track and report about each of the items that were picked up. Much of the litter that was found included plastic bottles, styrofoam pieces, cigarette butts, and food packaging, but some of the more unusual items were stuffed animals, a book, and a coconut. Representing Shine City Project, a total of fourteen volunteers participated with several new volunteers joining them for the first time!
With the temperatures starting to cool, the Shine City Project group returned to doing outdoor service projects. On September 11, 2021, they volunteered for the first time at Ahern Orchard. Only a mile away from the casinos of Downtown, this Orchard is located on land that once belonged to Las Vegas's earliest Korean immigrants. In the 1930s and 1940s, Korean immigrant Frank Kim and his Hispanic wife, Juanita Sanchez, owned and operated what was called the Kim Produce Farm. On their 20-acre farm, from the poor desert soil, they were able to successfully grow melons, tomatoes, and onions that supported the local community.