Email
Print
Youth group logs 2,000 volunteer hours
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 21, 2009
A local conservation group reached one of its major goals for this year on Saturday.
Members of Beholdance, a group comprised of youth under the age of 18, completed more than 2,000 hours of service.
It took less than two years.
As 10 youth and three adults participated in the Spring Litter Sweep on Kannapolis Parkway, they were able to complete their goal by Earth Day. The hours were the total service by the group's three chapters.
"We've achieved one of our longtime goals, and I'm very proud of everybody who was able to dedicate their time to help us," said Dakota Palacio, the group's 15-year-old founder from Kannapolis.
The group's mission is to examine issues affecting the planet and give youth a voice through conservation and community service.
Palacio started the group in 2007 after watching a movie about Simon Jackson, who started Spirit Bear Youth Coalition to help save a rare and endangered black bear.
To get her friends involved, Palacio held a meeting and suggested they do something to make a difference. For one of the members, 18-year-old Cory Hoyes, it did not take much convincing.
"I was all for it, because I wanted to support (Palacio), and I thought it was great a 13-year-old could come up with this," Hoyes said. "It started off a little slow, but once we got the word out, people started coming."
There are now three chapters of Beholdance. The Kannapolis and founding chapter has about 25 members, while the Asheboro chapter has approximately 15, and the Winston-Salem chapter has around 18 members.
Group members participate in a variety of conservation and community service activities.
The founding chapter adopted Kannapolis Parkway in July 2007, and agreed to clean it four times for four years.
They also participate in K-9 Krunchies and Feline Munchies, where members bag dry dog and cat food to be delivered to Cabarrus Meals on Wheels senior recipients with pets. Last year, the group bagged 1,500 pounds of pet food.
"Their seniors were sharing half of their meal with their pets," Palacio said.
Members also volunteered for the Meals on Wheels Sunday Soup Sampling and the North Carolina Zoo's Boo at the Zoo event in October. They have helped with Carolina Raptor Center's Fall Festival and collected nuts for area wildlife rehabilitation centers.
The group also obtained computers through the help of senior board member Mike Hoyes, had a computer class clean out the hardware and donated them to an orphanage.
"It goes into the recycling thing, trying to show people you don't have to throw things away," Mike Hoyes said.
The group reached another major achievement in September when members gathered and recycled aluminum cans to make $250. That money was given to the Smile Train to sponsor a child's surgery to repair her cleft lip and palate.
After completing their hours of service last year, five members of the group received the national Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Four members received bronze awards, and one received a silver award.
Now that the group has reached two of its major accomplishments, members are moving forward and continue to participate in more events and establish more programs, especially ones for recruitment.
"We all love and care about the planet and want to see our grandchildren have a healthy home to live in," Palacio said. "Beholdance is a way to have a local different and hopefully a global difference."
For anyone interested in getting involved, visit www.beholdance.org
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Click a region for news specific to that area.
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
Advertisement
