Today’s post comes from Odile Robotti, President of MilanoAlturista.

What a day! This is Odile from MilanoAltruista, one of the new European affiliates based in Milan, Italy.

On Saturday April 16^th we celebrated Global Youth Service Day with 12 different short volunteering projects  carried out by groups of teens varying in size from 4 to 15 people each, supported by a couple of us “old” volunteers. The teens were actually the ones leading the projects, while our regular volunteers were shadowing them.  These young adults are ready to lead, no doubt about that!

I hopped from one project to next, and although I didn’t manage to see them all, I was in contact with all our volunteers who were at the different sites. There was great excitement, enthusiasm and altruism in the air. We celebrated a generation that has a lot to give to the world (and the world needs it).

Some teens did their service selling Easter eggs in the streets of Milano to raise funds and awareness for  abused children (our partner organization was CAF, Centro Aiuto alla Famiglia). Irresistible smiles were displayed together with authentic sales skills  and eggs sold like hot cakes. Excellent work!

Other young volunteers spent the entire afternoon helping one of our regular volunteers, who is a professional chef (kind of like chef Ramsey), prepare a gourmet dinner for clients at A77 – a well known organization caring for AIDS patients. There was nice interaction between the clients (who came to the kitchen out of curiosity, for a chat, to say thank you or simply to ask what we were preparing for dinner) and our young volunteers. Everything felt natural. As I observed the kids, I thought “Could adults have done this any better?” The answer was no.

Similarly, I was struck by the warmth that teens demonstrated to the homeless people for which we organized a bingo plus snacks afternoon. When I asked our teen volunteers what they thought of the experience they said they had never fully realized that some people really have close to nothing and that you can make them very happy with a small gift and a smile. The American School of Milan prepared home baked cookies in lovely decorated bags which made everybody happy. An effort (for the middle school teacher who organized it and the kids who filled a huge number of bags) but it was well rewarded.

Another group painted a 20 meter mural together with the clients of our partner (a day care for disabled people). When I say together, I mean together: they all mixed up and had lots of fun. Sometime barriers are more in our minds than anyplace else.

A group helped il Volo (whose clients are young people with borderline personality disorder) decorate a restaurant where they were hosting a big fundraising event the same night: hundreds of colored balloons were blown and placed everywhere to cheer up the generous donors (and make them even more generous).

Other groups did gardening for our partner AIAS (a center for disabled), another worked at a communal garden, another did sorting of the many items collected for a school in India…

The common denominator? Altruism and youth leadership. Two things I really, really like.

Odile Robotti is the President of MilanoAlturista, A HandsOn Network Affiliate in Milan, Italy.

Want to see more pictures from MilanoAlturista’s Global Youth Service Day events? Visit our !