Students: Turn Your “Day Off from School” Into a “Day On for Service”

The Youth Volunteer Corps Kicks Off Its Healthy Wall of Food Service-Learning Project & Nutrition Education Program on Martin Luther King Day with a Challenge to Teens

DANBURY (January 16, 2012) – The Youth Volunteer Corps of Western Connecticut (YVCWC) is encouraging teens to turn their day off from school into a day on for service in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. While YVCWC offers volunteer projects for local youth throughout the year, this holiday project will focus on honoring Dr. King and his commitment to social justice and diversity.

“Dr. King is one of the more important luminaries who have guided YVCWC in its mission, so it’s only fitting that we honor his birthday by giving back,” said Samantha Sommerer, program coordinator of YVCWC. “We feel blessed at YVCWC to have the great honor of bearing witness to the transformative power of service in the lives of youth and those they serve.”

Thanks to a grant from the UnitedHealth HEROES program – a service-learning, health literacy initiative developed by United Healthcare and Youth Service America – YVCWC is kicking-off a very exciting project on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: The Healthy Wall of Food Service-Learning Project and Nutrition Education Program. This is a three-month, youth-focused nutrition awareness program that will culminate with the building of (literally) a Healthy Wall of Food at the Danbury Fair Mall on April 21 with Global Youth Service Day, the world’s largest and longest-running youth-led service campaign.

In support of this project, members of YVCWC will help coordinate food drives over the course of the next three months to be donated to the Interfaith Aids Ministry’s (IAM) Living Pantry. Each week across the Greater Danbury community, the pantry serves approximately 60 families, or 350 individuals affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. A nutritionist from IAM will be speaking with the youth throughout the program to teach them about healthy lifestyles, including nutrition and exercise. She will also teach about the nutritional needs of those living with HIV/AIDS and the challenges that low-income families face when trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle on limited budgets. United Way representatives from the Coalition for Healthy Kids will also be speaking with the youth throughout the project, teaching them about the challenges facing the Greater Danbury community and what the Coalition is doing to combat childhood obesity. The youth will be tracking their own eating habits and learning how to make healthier choices in the everyday foods they eat. They will also be putting together materials to educate peers, family members and their communities about the benefits of nutritious foods and a healthy lifestyle.

To kick off The Healthy Wall of Food Service-Learning Project & Nutrition Education Program, members of YVCWC will be meeting on Monday, January 16, from 1:00 to 4:00 at the IAM Living Pantry at 39 Rose St. Danbury, CT, where they will learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his legacy of community service, and receive an overview on nutrition and healthy lifestyles. The youth volunteers will also be restocking and organizing the Living Pantry at IAM. Mike Greene, Director of Operations at IAM, will speak on the importance of a nutritious diet, as well as the impact that the Living Pantry has on the community it serves.

In conjunction with this project, Big Y Grocery Store in New Milford will be hosting a food drive on Martin Luther King Jr., Day in support of the Youth Volunteer Corps Healthy Wall of Food and the IAM Living Pantry.

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YSA (Youth Service America) improves communitiesworldwide by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5-25, serving in substantive roles. Founded in 1986, YSA supports a global culture of engaged youth committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership, and achievement. The impact of YSA’s work through service and service-learning is measured in student achievement, workplace readiness, and healthy communities. For more information, visit www.YSA.org.

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.

The Youth Volunteer Corps of Western Connecticut (YVCWC) is committed to helping our youth realize their full potential as agents of positive change in their local communities. The YVCWC is a youth-driven volunteer program for young people ages 11-18 that engages them in projects that are challenging, rewarding, and educational to serve the needs of the community and promote a lifetime ethic of service. Youth participate in year-round service-learning projects as well as a multiple-week-long Summer of Service. The YVCWC is a program of The Volunteer Center of United Way of Western Connecticut.

United Way of Western Connecticut’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the power of caring communities to create lasting change. UWWC applies its resources through financial support, volunteerism and advocacy to change lives. United Way advances the common good, creating opportunities for a better life for all by focusing on the three key building blocks of education, income and health. It creates long lasting community change by addressing the underlying causes of problems that prevent progress in these areas. LIVE UNITED is a call to action for everyone to become part of the change. The towns covered within UWWC’s region are Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Stamford, Warren and Washington. For more information about United Way of Western Connecticut, please visit: www.uwwesternct.org.