Hats Off: You Won't Believe What These Kids Were Doing

Kids these days...

In Oneida County, many kids these days are rolling up their sleeves and volunteering to improve the community.

County officials came together to recognize the hard work of more than 1,700 kids who pitched and donated a combined 4.481 hours of their in 2022. That time was spent helping others, officials said:

assisting homeless individuals
making Christmas cards for veterans and senior citizens
a food drive for children in Ukraine
collecting winter coats; community gardening
the Making Strides to End Breast Cancer Walk
preparing and delivering care bags for cancer patients
cleaning senior citizens’ yards
holiday food drives
youth mentoring and tutoring.

“The civic engagement, compassion and drive that is displayed by the youth of Oneida County never ceases to amaze me,” County Executive Anthony Picente said.

OCCC2: Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. and Oneida County Youth Bureau Director Kevin Green are joined by youth volunteers and agency partner representatives at the Oneida County Children Care initiative press conference in the Board of Legislators Chamber at the Oneida County Office Building on Feb. 22, 2023.

“We are continuing to see our youth take ownership and pride in making a difference within our community through volunteering. This initiative is a testimony to the work our youth-serving agencies do on a daily basis and to the youth of Oneida County, who really do care," added Youth Bureau Director Kevin Green.

This year's partners included Neighborhood Center, Safe Schools Mohawk Valley, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Dodge Pratt Northam Art & Community Center, Center for Family Life and Recovery, ICAN and Thea Bowman House.

Since launching in 2009, the Oneida County Children Cares initiative has seen 16,442 youth dedicate 49,398 hours to community service, officials said.

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