Youth Engaged in Service (YES) 2025

At our August 25, 2025  Rotary Meeting.

 

The inspiration was provided by Patsy and included her thoughts about the 4-Way Test.

 

The greatest reward in giving is internal. Things like joy, purpose, and liberation. A life dedicated to service is a life fulfilled. The small acts of kindness can have a profound impact. There are many ways to give. Saturday night represented a room full of people who gave in a variety of ways. Time, talent, energy, and of course, the goal for the night was money. Money that keeps our club viable, ambitious, and generous. And that’s the truth. It benefits many. It builds goodwill. I felt like I was in a room full of friends. I think it’s fair to say it was a lot of fun and a successful event.

 

Danielle introduced our guests this evening:  Bernie Haliday from the Burlington Rotary Club, Chris Cleaver who was a YES advisor and who should be a Rotarian, Kurt Nelson from the Fidalgo Island Rotary Club, Honorary Rotarian Susan Macek, and YES participants Hadden Zimmerman and Nelly Corona.

 

Marty introduced our guest speakers for the evening: Hadden and Nelly, who were the two students we sponsored for the YES program. (Youth Engaged in Service)

They spoke about: The YES Experience Through Our Eyes

Their experience began with leadership lessons: How to be a good leader, what is a leader, what it takes to be a leader. They participated in different activities and found their strengths, skills, and differences. They also had cultural lessons. Washington has a cooler climate, and Honduras has a very warm climate. People interact differently based just on the weather. They had retreats and team meetings. They got to meet everyone and got to know everyone better which was really fun. They felt very prepared and said Marty did a great job of preparing them, so they understood what to expect.

 

They spent their first day at Casita Copan, which was originally an orphanage but is now a daycare for working single moms. Hadden and Nelly helped them build a ditch for excess water so the place wouldn’t flood and a fence. The people showed the students how to make their food which was really good. Nelly said she is normally a picky eater, but she decided to be open and try new things. Both Nelly and Haddon liked the food.

 

The second place was Barbasco Cabanas at a school. There the YES students poured concrete and rebuilt their chicken coop. They also did some activities with the local kids, like making slime and making things with pipe cleaners. Although it made a big mess, everyone enjoyed it. They played soccer outside. Both Hadden and Nelly loved playing with the kids. Nelly did not enjoy mixing the concrete.

Los Lomas was the final destination and the place where the YES students did most of the painting and work. They finished building a playground and Nelly learned to use a power drill. “Little working woman, what can I say? It was really fun.” They also painted the walls and a mural. They showed slides of the work they completed.

 

Part of the time the YES students were divided into different groups, but Nelly and Hadden both enjoyed when the who YES team worked together. They said it was a beautiful thing how the entire year led them to this, how they communicate so well, and understand each other, knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

 

After all the work they got to go to the Mayan ruins, the bird sanctuary, and the hot springs.

 

What did they gain from this experience? Seeing other parts of the world, how people lived compared to us, and understanding what to be grateful for. They also felt like they made a difference. They did something to help, made change, and had a great time doing it. They gained good friends and good connections with people they would not have met or been close to without this YES experience. And, they built confidence.

 

Nelly and Hadden also presented Days for Girls and Men Who Know. They went on an agriculture tour to a coffee plantation and went horseback riding. They were surprised by the heavy rain in Honduras.

 

Each YES student has to do 80 hours of volunteer work before they can go to Honduras. Nelly volunteered at Children of the Valley. Hadden volunteered at the Braves Club and was the basketball and track manager.

 

Hadden and Nelly taught the Honduran kids to play four square, which is a game the kids didn’t know. Nelly found she didn’t depend on her phone.

 

Hadden has traveled to Ecuador and plans to travel to Costa Rica this year. This was a first for Nelly, but she hopes to come back and work for the YES program after she is done with college.

When asked what was hard:

Nelly: I feel like staying super committed is something that's really hard, because when you start, you're doing this a whole year, and you start, it's still so far away, but then, I feel like part of me was like, oh, like, I can't do it, like, I have such a busy schedule, I'm working, I'm volunteering, I want to do all, like, these activities at school. But, yeah, I feel like it was really hard at times, but it was all worth it.

Hadden: At first, it was going to be me and my friend going from La Connor, and then he dropped out because it was too much work. And that kind of made me think, like, oh, should I just drop out too? Like, because he's, like, my best friend, and I didn't know everyone else too well at all, or at all, really. And… but him dropping out kind of forced me to, make better relationships with everyone else, so, I'm kind of glad he did. I made more friends, and different friends. It was challenging, but I think it made it better.