As the holiday break from school continues on toward tearing off another page of the calendar, the last thing on the minds of vacation-lazy kids may be new avenues for working. They spend so much time scheduled into school, homework, sports, arts, there’s hardly time for spontaneous play or just hanging out with friends. Why would they be looking to fill even their vacation time with work? 
Not every kid dreams of being of service, but many more might dream that way if introduced to programs where they can fully appreciate and be appreciated for making a real difference in the lives of others. YSA (Youth Service America) improves communities by getting young people, ages 5-25, involved in service. We already know that young people who volunteer their time are pretty consistently leaders among their peers, so encouraging the kids in your family to get involved in a profound and meaningful way can help them (like volunteering does for all of us) much more than they are helping others. It’s a well-known maxim in volunteerism that the one DOING the service gets as much or more out of the experience than those being served. YSA engages kids year-round by connecting them to volunteer opportunities in projects near home as well as widespread days of service, semester of service, service learning projects, and more.
Sure, Winter Break can be fun playing the new video games and watching re-runs on TV, but what if Spring Break was a time to really rock your kid’s world? It’s not too soon to start planning together now, before the school bell rings.
Change by Doing 