600 Volunteers Work To Nurture Confident Kiwi Kids

Media release 1 December 2008

600 Volunteers Work To Nurture Confident Kiwi Kids

Over 600 volunteers are at work from Northland to Southland to help build confidence in New Zealand’s young people.

These volunteers work for the Foundation for Youth Development (FYD) and its programmes Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K as mentors to students, board trustees, office helpers and to help raise awareness and funds.

“Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in the development of our young people, and it can transform the pace and nature of our programmes,” says Foundation for Youth Development co-founder Jo-anne Wilkinson. “We believe that volunteerism benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.”

The Foundation for Youth Development contributes to the development of New Zealand’s young people through volunteerism by working with partners to integrate volunteering into programme development, and mobilizing an increasing number and diversity of volunteers to work throughout New Zealand. Even the students that the Foundation for Youth Development works with are encouraged to volunteer through community projects throughout the year.

A Stars student said about their community project, “It has taught me a number of things: teamwork, communication skills, social skills and it has also boosted my confidence in front of new people.”

This Friday 5 December (UN Volunteer Day), to thank its national office volunteers the Foundation for Youth Development will be giving a sauvignon blanc vine which can be planted, nurtured and enjoyed.
“The vines donated by Corban’s Viticulture are a symbolic way of providing our volunteers with a living and growing reminder that their work is appreciated,” says Jo-anne. “We hope that when they produce fruit they will remember that their work also produces great results.”
As sun and water nourish the vines we are reminded of the values that sustain volunteerism: free will, commitment, engagement and solidarity.
For more information on the Foundation for Youth Development and its programmes: Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K, please visit www.fyd.org.nz.

ENDS

Note to Editors:
About Foundation for Youth Development:
FYD, a not-for-profit organisation founded by Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson is a leader in the field of youth development in New Zealand with over 16,000 young people in its programmes. FYD provides young people from age 5 to 18 with the opportunity to build self-confidence, and learn valuable life skills by participating in unique development programmes. Current programmes include Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K. FYD has a strategy of sequencing programmes to ensure young people get maximum support from the time they start school, aged 5, right through to being seniors in secondary school.

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