Ava Hoffman, a senior at Midlothian High School, has logged more than 446 hours during her four years in high school by being a volunteer candy-striper (defined as a youth volunteer in hospitals) at CJW Medical Center. This UVA bound teen is just one of the Generation Y kids, also known as the Millennial Generation, who is spending personal time helping others. During this National Volunteer Week the efforts of all volunteers are recognized.

Kids begin volunteering for many different reasons and some even admit they start out because it's an expectation they have to satisfy for school. Monacan High School's Humanities Center requires students to fulfill a 20-hour per year commitment to community service with each grade focused on a specific area of need.

Center Director Clare Tilton highlights, "Our students study cultures of the past but, in order to understand their own community and issues that face us all, they need to be involved in their community. Students make meaningful connections and learn that the success of their community or neighborhood often depends on the involvement of its citizens."

Hoffman has carried her commitment beyond just a school requirement. "It's a lot of fun to deliver flowers and mail to the patients. They seem happy to see me. We ask them how their day is going, make small talk and let them know that we're thinking of them" commented Hoffman, while manning the information desk at the hospital's Maternal & Infant Unit.

Youth volunteers at the hospital must be at least 15 years old and receive extensive training before they are allowed to volunteer. CJW Marketing Director J.C. Sadler reports that the hospital has "61 junior volunteers during the school year and as many as 150 during the summer. I find it personally very encouraging to see how much youth give back to our hospital. I like to see the generational diversity between our senior volunteers and their junior counterparts."

"I think volunteering is really important because it's a big part of my character" says, Trent McLees, a sophomore at Monacan who recently helped clean up the James River for his school requirement but went even further by volunteering on his own for Habitat for Humanity through his church.

Humanities freshman Jade Baker maintains her dedication to community service while balancing other extra-curricular activities like the JV softball team and the debate team because she says, "I think volunteering is important because you get involved in your community, and you become a more well-rounded person. It's a win-win because you also improve your social skills." Her parent, Paula Baker agrees, reflecting that "I think it's difficult for a child to see anything outside of their little world unless you put them out there."

Sometimes even the pursuit of good health and physical fitness leads to volunteering. Teens who volunteer with The Midlothian YMCA Leaders Club must volunteer 100 hours per year at the YMCA as a requirement. Jason Christensen, associate teen director for the program explains it this way, "We started our local program 5 years ago when we saw that there was a need for belonging amongst our area teens. The best part of the leaders club is watching our kids grow up into amazing young adults."

It took some convincing for Annika Schunn, an 8th grader in the YMCA Leaders Club, to get her parents' permission to participate. Her family is from Germany, and "Teens in Germany don't do much community service because the communities are run differently. So, when I brought the idea home to my parents, it took a while to explain the idea, but then they caught on and completely supported it."

Annika's German-born mom and a local area physician, Gisa Schunn, defined the cultural difference by saying "Volunteerism is highly developed here [in the United States]. In central Europe it's mainly a thing elderly people do, and there is no youth expectation. Here, we expect them to help the community rather than the family as much. This was a cultural adjustment for us, but now we think its good, and we are supportive."

As she prepares to spend her last summer as a candy striper at the hospital, Hoffman says, "I will continue to volunteer until I absolutely have to leave. At the end of my shift, I always feel great and energized. It helps our generation as a whole to be rewarded by volunteering." In an effort to inspire her own Millennial Generation, she says "Check it out for yourself!"

Check out more stories in this edition of the Chesterfield Observer, now a weekly publication.