2009 Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up
Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up Day
THE OLD AND THE YOUNG GETTING IT DONE! Oneida County Youth Bureau Director Bob Roth and Oneida County Office of the Aging and Continuing Care Director Mike Romano with the Slavic Pentecostal Church Youth Group volunteers and 2 senior citizens who benefitted from their work during the Oneida County’s 2009 Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up.
The Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up, a collaboration between the Oneida County Youth Bureau, the Oneida County Office of the Aging and Continuing Care, Oneida County colleges, school districts, youth organizations and area merchants took place on Saturday April 25th and Sunday April 26th. Over 200 youth volunteers performed general yard clean-up duties; raking and bagging leaves, sweeping porches, sidewalks and driveways and bringing light refuse to the curb for pickup, to 60 locations county-wide during this pilot project. The services were delivered to the elderly and disabled who physically couldn’t do the work or financially couldn’t afford to have the work done. The initiative, which coincided with Global Youth Service Day, was developed not only to provide unmet, invaluable services, but to teach our youth the value of volunteerism and making their/our communities (Oneida County) a better, cleaner, greener place to live. Mutual admiration, respect and understanding between youth and elderly grew out of this wonderful event. It was heartwarming to see them interact.
The long range goal/plan of this initiative is to build a strong network with all of the participating entities delivering services to the elderly and disabled throughout the year. The Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up was a huge success! I am proud to say the youth of Oneida County that were involved in the Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up were a magnificent group of individuals that anyone would be proud to call their own! We, Oneida County, are the lucky ones because they belong to us!
In an era where our youth may not dress like the youth of days gone by, where their music may not sound like the music of years past and yes, both young men and women may have tattoos and piercings, the huge majority of our youth are good, caring, considerate and giving people we can and should be proud of. The Oneida County Intergenerational Spring Clean-Up was a perfect example of THE OLD AND THE YOUNG GETTING IT DONE!
