Global Days of Service 2017

“This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease.”
-Robert Kennedy

In the coming weeks many colleges, alumni and various organizations across the country will participate in Global Days of Service 2017 activities. While many of these groups will stick to the traditional one day of service, others have taken it a step further and organized activities of three days, while others are planning a week-long series of events and activities.

The idea is based on the original concept of a Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), which was established in 1988 and is the largest service event in the world dedicated to the contributions that youth make 365 days of the year.

Global Youth Service Day is celebrated each year in more than 135 countries, with schools, youth organizations, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations, national service programs, government agencies, and adult mentors working together to address the world’s most critical issues, offer solutions and bring changes to their communities. This year the GYSD service activities will run from April 21-23.

Colleges, and alumni groups in particular, are very active in this program. While most schools will participate in the program sometime in April – anywhere from the 8th to the 30th – others such as Yale University will have its “Day” on May 13.

Yale has volunteer efforts planned in 40 states and 23 countries with over 3500 people participating, including several decades of alumni/ae and high school students in grades 9-12. Other schools sponsoring programs for the Global Day of Service include New York University, Boston University, Michigan State University, Walden University and Temple University.

The UTS community: faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends are invited to spend a day making their local communities, the lives of others, and this world a bit better.

Sponsoring programs across the U.S. are open to anyone who would like to volunteer either time or money. Check online for available groups in your local area for times and places.

Yale, for example, is hosting programs in Grand Rapids, MI, Rochester, NY, New Haven, CT, Wilmington, DE, Bozeman, MT, Portland, OR, Atlanta, GA and Seoul, Korea, while Boston University will sponsor programs in Texas, California and Thailand as well as Boston.

If you have a story to share about your volunteer experience send it to: UTS Alumni Relations c/o c.peterson@uts.edu.

Also, look for stories and photos on UTS social media:
https://www.facebook.com/UnificationTheologicalSeminaryNY10036/     |     https://www.facebook.com/groups/UTSalumni/