On Sunday January 25th, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation welcomed it’s 6th class of Young Ambassadors (YA), 16 young men and women ages 12-18 years old, at the foundation’s first virtual Orientation event. This year’s class of Ambassadors includes youth from the tri-state area and for the first time, participants from the DC-metro area as well.
During Orientation, Ambassadors heard from the YA Program Director, HLF’s Executive Director, viewed a welcome message from Co-Founder Henrik Lundqvist and learned about the year of service they are about to embark upon. Serving from January until September 2021, all YAs are required to (i) complete a minimum of 15 hours of community service, (ii) complete an independent service project in support of HLF’s mission, (iii) attend at least one HLF-hosted event and/or service project, (iv) make a short presentation (to his/her class, team or other community group) about HLF’s mission and the YA’s work as an HLFYA, and (v) fundraise for and participate in the 3rd Annual HLFYA KidsJam. YAs also shared 3 acts of kindness and/or service which they had completed before the meeting. From simple gestures to more time consuming endeavors, the individual acts of kindness focused on friends, family, helping with home/school work, cleaning and organizing and writing letters etc.
All HLF Young Ambassadors are also paired with a YA Alumni mentor, a youth who previously completed the program. Sunday’s Orientation was an opportunity for YAs to “meet” their mentors and hear first hand about their experiences with HLF. HLFYA Alumni President, Allen Magie also shared a message and told the class to ‘put their heart into’ the program and the projects they choose. He also reminded our new YAs that ‘no idea or project is too big or too small’.
Program partner Buncee also presented to the YAs, sharing their online digital creation and communication tool which enables HLFYAs to create professional-style marketing and promotional materials for the work they’re doing in their communities.
HLF is thrilled to continue the Young Ambassadors program, a youth service and volunteerism program which now also includes a scholarship opportunity for all participants who complete the program and continue on to higher education.
