Oneida County Youth Continue to Have Positive Community Impact

County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced today that 628 youth volunteered 4,946 hours through the Oneida County Children Care initiative in 2023.

“The civic engagement, compassion and drive that is displayed by the youth of Oneida County never ceases to amaze me,” Picente said. “The lessons learned through programs like Oneida County Children Care show our young people the value of helping others and the benefit of community service. The opportunities our partner agencies give these volunteers helps lay the groundwork for our future.”

The county initiative partnered last year with ICAN, The Neighborhood Center, Safe Schools Mohawk Valley, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Thea Bowman House.

Youth volunteers performed community service that included providing first-time mothers with comfort bags, sending letters to our troops, peer-to-peer mentoring of refugees, assisting at Anita’s Stevens Swan Humane Society, helping senior citizens at Acacia Village, participating in the Sauquoit Valley Cancer Walk, donating school supplies, cleaning senior citizens’ yards, forming youth leadership groups and participating in holiday food drives.

“The Oneida County Children Care initiative began in 2009 with a goal of teaching our children the invaluable lessons of community service learned through volunteerism,” said Youth Bureau Director Kevin Green. “Our youth-serving agencies do incredible work on a daily basis with our children. Nothing — not tough economic times or the cutting of staff and hours of program operation — has stood in the way of their commitment to teach our youth the value of volunteerism and giving back to their communities. This Oneida County Children Care initiative once again proves that our children really do care.”

Now in its thirteenth year, the Oneida County Children Cares initiative has seen 17,070 youth dedicate 54,344 hours to community service.