What Will You Do This Summer?

All around us, young people are setting off on exciting paths – enjoying the final weeks of summer, preparing to head back to school or college, or starting their careers. At graduations this past spring, we recognized and celebrated accomplishments, and the promise of what’s to come.

I read an article recently about a high school in Minnesota where students can letter in service, just like they can letter in sports or academics. How incredible is that? This school, and others like it, are recognizing service as an achievement and signaling to the entire student body that it’s worthy of celebration. At graduation, their service is lauded as an accomplishment.

One of my colleagues shared with me that this summer her kids are attending a summer service camp. Using their time to serve others – and finding outlets for that service in their communities – is so important. Increasingly, young people are being celebrated for their service, and seeing role models and peers around them celebrating service, too.

The Civic Century we talk about so often at Points of Light depends on a generation of young people for whom service is second nature, and who understand it impact. It’s up to us to show them.

In June, we were in St. Paul for our annual Points of Light Conference. A number of partners came to the conference and shared what they’re doing to increase service and participation in their communities. While we were there, we also spent an afternoon outdoors, partnering in a service project with the Mississippi Park Connection, an organization focused on helping the city’s Mississippi River Recreation Area. We joined volunteers in planting native species, removing invasive ones and cleaning up the river area. It was just one of the ways we gave back this season.

So, my question to you is: What will you do this summer? Will you take one day, one excursion, one weekend to give back? The same joy, the same sense of peace, the same feel-good feeling we find in traditional summer things, like a vacation or a trip to the beach, can be found in service. And the impact lasts a long, long time.