Even during unusual times when we need to stay at home, there are still opportunities to support each other every day. Youth Service America (YSA) takes this philosophy seriously with their numerous campaigns to encourage #KidsHelpingKids, such as Global Youth Service Day. By tapping into the kindness and ingenuity of youth, these service projects include creative ideas like:
- A 14-year-old boy distributing garden starter kits to 450 families
- A Boys & Girls Club running virtual tutoring classes for kids who need more assistance
- An 11-year-old girl providing over 5,000 bags of toiletries and necessities in her community
Each year, YSA supports thousands of projects like these to activate hundreds of thousands of youth around the world as volunteers in their local communities. No stranger to the power of Channeling Kindness, YSA and the Born This Way Foundation have worked together to recruit youth reporters to extend these stories across the United States. Inspired by these projects, over 120 Deloitte professionals have volunteered to support YSA since 2017.
The Power of Kids Helping Kids
What happens when we tap into kindness to provide volunteer services to our communities? In addition to helping communities and families in need, young volunteers improve their own skills and leadership. Among students, those that engage in serving others score higher in subjects like social studies, writing, and language arts, while being overall more motivated to learn.1 As they get older, the Corporation for National Community Service reported that youth volunteering is associated with skill-building to have a 27% higher odds of employment.2 Even later in career, volunteering supports our health and well-being by creating new relationships, reducing stress, and participating in physically and mentally stimulating activities.3
Kindness at Work
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500®, various government agencies, and more than 7,000 private companies. Nonprofits and local community organizations can also benefit from these services through skills-based volunteering. Skills-based volunteering can be defined as using professional and workplace skills to support nonprofit initiatives, which 89% of nonprofit directors and managers say can be very valuable to their organizations.4
At Deloitte, we have been fortunate to help YSA activate more “Kids Helping Kids” through numerous skills-based volunteering projects. Our professionals have used their experiences in management, data analytics, and marketing to help YSA achieve its desired results. Examples of these projects include helping YSA train 50 of their lead agency partners to engage more youth in service across the United States, raising $1,000,000 for new volunteer programs, and supporting program development for Global Youth Service Day. In total, these projects drew over 2,000 hours of skills-based volunteering to empower young people to impact their communities.
“It was amazing to learn about the different initiatives these kids are taking on in their communities and see how my contribution can indirectly benefit and make a positive difference in their communities as well.” – Deloitte Analyst
How to Get Involved
If you were also inspired by these examples of kindness and service, then check out ways to get involved!
- Participate in a national day of service: 9/11 Day of Service (September 11, 2020), MLK Day of Service (January 18, 2021), and Global Youth Service Day (April 23-25, 2021)
- Get involved in the 2020 elections with ServiceVote
- Apply for a YSA Grant
- Use YSA’s free resources and trainings to plan a project
- Nominate a young person to receive YSA’s Everyday Young Hero Award
- Share your story with Channel Kindness!
1. Billig, S., Root, S., & Jesse, D. (2005). The impact of participation in service-learning on high school students; civic engagement.
2. Spera, C., Ghertner, R., Nerino, A., & DiTommaso, A. (2013). Volunteering as a pathway to employment: Does volunteering increase odds of finding a job for the out of work? Office of Research & Evaluation, Corporation for National and Community Service.
3. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Civic Participation. HealthPeople.gov https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/civic-participation
4 Deloitte & Points of Light Foundation. (2006). Volunteer Impact Study: Executive Summary.
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/citizenship-deloitte-volunteer-impact-
