‘Young Heros’ serve their community

Armed with gloves, paint and rollers in hand, a bunch of local kids hit the streets for another weekend of community service fighting graffiti in Long Island City recently. They are part of a volunteer organization called “Young Heroes,” a program that is part of City Year organization.
Although there are many outlets for the volunteers within the program, those in the “Young Heroes” program mentor young kids and help them achieve the awareness necessary to make the community better.
There is a different “theme” each week, and the youngsters recently tackled vandalism and gangs at Long Island City’s I.S. 204. The kids learned about graffiti and how it relates to gang activities and how that affects the community. The kids then “do community service based on the issue they learned about,” said program leader Danielle Wolfe. “In this case, they tie together what was learned and vandalism they see.”
The kids had support from Ray Carrero, the Quality of Life Director, and Jennifer Manley, the Queens Director of the Community Affairs Unit, both from the mayor’s office. They talked to the kids about gangs and how graffiti is a sure sign of gang activity. They also showed their support by donating all the paint and supplies needed to clean the graffiti-tagged walls and volunteered the services of the “graffiti free NYC” truck, which can power blast away all the graffiti on the walls.
Program participant Fernando Valentin said that, “cleaning feels good, especially cleaning things that should’ve been taken care of a long time ago.”
Founded in 1988, City Year “brings together young adults ages 17-24 from diverse backgrounds for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development and civic engagement.”
Each participant volunteers on Saturdays from January through May to complete 100 hours of community service. Upon completing the work, each participant receives a Presidential Volunteer Service Award.