March 25, 2003

Portland non-profits team up with the Blazers To Increase Youth Volunteerism

Three Portland-Area non-profit organizations are teaming up with the Blazers this year to increase youth volunteerism and leadership.

The partners – Hands On Portland, VolunteerWorks and Camp Fire USA Portland Metro Council – are together organizing a National Youth Service Day (NYSD) for April 12, with major support from the Blazers. More than 300 volunteers will participate in youth-led service projects throughout the community.


NYSD is the first step in the partnership between the non-profit organizations. The partners plan to expand their work together over the next year to benefit hundreds of young people in the Portland Metro Area. Working with Camp Fire’s successful youth development program, Hands On Portland will train youth to become volunteer leaders. The youth, with help from VolunteerWorks, will learn to lead and manage their own service projects.

As a result, a new generation of youth leaders will emerge who will mobilize hundreds of young people to volunteer in their community.

Hands On Portland turns volunteerism into a powerful tool for change. By connecting 4,000 volunteers a year with projects throughout the community, HOP does more than fill some of Portland’s most-pressing needs. HOP transforms ordinary citizens into engaged, effective community leaders – the very people who are key to Portland’s continued success.

In the end, HOP makes Portland a more vital and livable community. The first and only organization in Portland of its kind, HOP succeeds by making volunteering easy and accessible to everyone. We provide well-managed and flexibly scheduled volunteer opportunities that are “done-in-a-day” without requiring a long-term commitment. Founded in 1996, Hop was named one of Oregon’s Top 50 Non-Profits in December by the Business Journal.