Hands On Tokyo Youth Impact Project

Thank you to all our donors and supporters of the Youth Impact program. 2018 has proven to be a year of new landmarks for our program and students. Not only did our students volunteer, but they also lead and created their own programs and inspired their peers to also get involved. Additionally, our staff was able to connect with school administrations and establish meaningful partnerships to promote understanding and education.

 The Youth Impact program is fortunate to have students who regularly volunteer, are leaders of our volunteer projects, and are also our key promoters. Without their vocal advocacy and input, the Youth Impact program would not have been able to grow the way it has.

 We estimate that students all over Tokyo have volunteered 290 times with Youth Impact since January 2017. This figure discounts all the students that volunteered solely with Hands On Tokyo. Of those 290, 40 have become seriously committed to our projects, meaning they volunteer consistently and attend meetings. This committed group of students is also elemental in creating their own projects.

 Some of the project creation highlights of this year was a beach cleaning, an easter egg hunt and Christmas lesson with our vulnerable children. These events not only meet needs within the community, but also foster Youth Impact members` creativity and leadership. In 2019, we hope to give more students the opportunity to create their own original program.

 In addition to volunteer projects with Hands On Tokyo`s three core demographics, our LIVES Food Truck, a portable food that sells vegetarian dishes made by people with disabilities, has continued to expand. The project now includes 5 employees with varying mental disabilities and 16 students. In addition we were able to sell food at three university campuses. In 2019, we will be working hard to secure permanent location for our food truck on at least two college campuses. For more information, please check out our global giving page, LIVES Food Truck.

 Finally Youth Impact met its major goal of gaining sponsorship from school administrations. By tapping into our network, we were able to pursue partnerships with 5 universities, including special collaborations with the LIVES Food Truck.One international high school student focused on a potential paralympic and Youth Impact partnership in 2020, while Deakin University from Australia and Sophia University in Tokyo students learned more about the NPO industry in Japan, and helped us to find methods to attract more student involvement. In 2019, we will be looking to have more of these types of collaborations. We believe that students should not only use us as a resource, but we should learn from them as well. 

 In 2018, we proved what listening to student feedback can accomplish. We are an organization that prides ourselves on letting the student lead this program. In 2019, we will work hard to engage youth and give them the space to be leaders. We hope you will consider investing in them in the new year as well. We wish you a happy holidays and New Year.

Thank you to all our donors and supporters of the Youth Impact program. Our program has continued to gain traction, including being endorsed by major universities in Tokyo, a successful debut of LIVES Food Truck on September 16^th, and a greater number high school and college students volunteering with our organization throughout the summer into the fall season.

 Administrations` and teachers` awareness of the unique opportunities Youth Impact provides has grown significantly, in large part because the ranks of our volunteers have grown, and we have able to diversify the volunteer pool.

 As of now, we have high school and college student volunteers from around 15 schools in Tokyo; they have volunteered at least 201 times at Hands On Tokyo projects since we remodeled our youth initiative in January 2017. The volunteers who have significant experience with a particular community partner (children`s homes, senior citizens, special needs individuals, or a combination of our community partners) are not only occupying leadership roles, but also planning projects.

 This unique aspect of the Youth Impact has made the program more desirable to students, and encouraged them to return and volunteer with the same demographic. In turn, teachers are hearing from their students about the ability to specialize, learn, lead, and eventually create projects.

 University academic departments who want students to understand societal problems in Japan or abroad, have become interested in the opportunities we provide to student. As a result, we will have official collaborations with three universities, and more are in the works. We will be sure to tell you how this collaboration progresses in the future. Another major development for the Youth Impact team is the LIVES Food Truck.

 The food truck made its debut at the LIVES event in Roppongi Midtown on September 16th; we sold 100 plates of food and our profits were 60,000 yen. Another food truck event is scheduled on October 21st at our annual showcase of volunteer projects, Day of Service. For more information about the LIVES Food truck, please visit our LIVES Food Truck global giving page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/lives-food-truck/

 Our students are an elemental part of creating inclusive and safe working environments for the three mentally disabled food truck workers who make and serve food to the public. The students` roles was to encourage the workers, lead interactions between customers and disabled employees, and intervene if it was necessary. Learning the empathy, the skills to support and build relationships with mentally disabled individuals proved to be a meaningful experience for our students. Our youth are learning the careful balance and constant awareness the role entails, and flourishing.

 Our debut was ultimately a test for our youth and LIVES Food truck staff to try out their new roles, and because of serious preparation and training, they passed. Inevitably, there are ways we can continue to improve, but the team is committed to learning from their errors and improving.

 Finally, the number of students participating in the 27 monthly programs offered on our website and Youth Impact specific projects has steadily increased. The increase is in large part because of recruitment efforts and students networking amongst themselves.

 On September 8^th, we offered a networking event between students, our staff, and board members. We had 30 students attend, half of whom have never volunteered with Hands On Tokyo before. Since the event, 3 volunteers have attended projects in September with special needs children and senior citizens, along with another becoming our intern.

 All of the progress and awareness we have raised would not be possible without the support of our donors and sponsors. We are grateful that you have chosen our project to invest in, and we will continue to work hard to engage new students. We look forward to updating you again in the winter.