Volunteer Projects: America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk, Build-A-Bike, Westminster Presbyterian Church Bazaar

 

Summary: Youth volunteers from the Underground Café solicited pledges to raise money and walked in Utica’s version of America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk on March 7, 2009. The youth volunteers enjoyed every aspect participating in this event. Their participation encouraged other youth and staff members to participate.

Build a Bike

On June 20, 2009, 23 youth volunteers from the Underground Café volunteered their time organizing bicycles, tagging bicycles, assisting mechanics and helping with crowd control at Utica Safe Schools/Underground Café’s annual Build-A-Bike event. Prior to the event the youth volunteers assisted with the collection of the bikes. The 2009 event, the most successful to date, gave away 225 free, repaired bicycles and new helmets to the youth of Utica. The youth volunteers volunteered many hours and were fully invested in this event. They commented how proud they were to be part of such a huge undertaking.

Westminster Presbyterian Church Bazaar

Saturday October 24, 2009, youth volunteers from the Underground Café assisted parishioners from the Westminster Presbyterian Church with their bazaar. They socialized with parishioners, made sandwiches for the soup kitchen and carried parishioner’s packages to their cars. The youth volunteers enjoyed interacting and assisting the parishioners to make their bazaar a success. This intergenerational collaboration was a very positive experience and the youth volunteers from the Underground Café look forward in assisting the Westminster Presbyterian Church with future endeavors.