www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=323082&src=76Fair hopes to attract teen volunteersBy Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 9/22/09
If you go
What: KidsMatter Volunteer Fair
When: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today
Where: Naperville municipal center, 400 S. Eagle St.
Info: (630) 527-6562 or kidsmatter2us.org
Naperville-area teens may not have much money to share with good causes, but KidsMatter is helping them find ways to donate their time.
The seventh annual KidsMatter Volunteer Fair is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at Naperville's municipal center, 400 S. Eagle St.
The fair is geared toward students in grades six through 12 looking for ways to give back to their community. The event also is putting additional emphasis on family service opportunities.
KidsMatter hopes to "enable young people to see serving is fun and also allow them to see they can make a real difference in the lives of other people," Executive Director IdaLynn Wenhold said.
More than 25 organizations will be represented, including Naper Settlement, American Cancer Society, St. Patrick's Residence, Loaves and Fishes, Feed My Starving Children and the DuPage Children's Museum.
Several new organizations have joined this year, including Ecumenical Adult Care of Naperville and Bridging the Gap, a new program sponsored by KidsMatter that connects youths with seniors.
"So many of our young people do not have grandparents in the immediate area so it's a win-win for kids as well as older adults," Wenhold said.
While there is usually representation from the Girl Scouts, this year's contingent will be bigger than usual with the Girl Scouts of Greater DuPage and Northwest Indiana.
Many of the groups at the fair will have opportunities for the whole family, which provides children with role models for volunteerism, according to Wenhold.
She said two-thirds of adults who volunteer started doing so when they were young.
"It's so true that the earlier young people get involved in serving the more likely they are to continue that as a pattern in their adult years," she said.
The event is being partially funded by the Rotary Club of Naperville. For more information, call (630) 527-6562 or visit kidsmatter2us.org.