Students wearing name tags and matching shirts fill The Warehouse, ready to help the community. This is Global Youth Service Day.

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual event held by the Monroe County Youth Council (MCYC). It will be held on April 15 this year. The council is made up of 43 high school students; their goal being to create youth led service projects, by youth for youth.

GYSD is a day of service that is meant to bring awareness to the Bloomington community, and the service opportunities within it. Members of MCYC separate into six groups: Team Home, Team Animals, Team Environment, Team Education, Team Social Issues, and Team EduMental. Each group leads a service project that relates to their topic.

Projects ranging from reading books to Templeton Elementary students on Team Education, to creating posters for Sexual Assault Awareness Month on Team Social issues have been set up by students for their peers to participate in.

Junior Sajnee Desai is a member of MCYC’s “Dream Team”. Desai, along with a select few other members, decide what MCYC’s goals will be for the year and help to lead the individual service projects on GYSD.

“Monroe County Youth Council has been a pretty good experience for me; I’ve learned a lot about the community and gained tools to apply in the future,” Desai said.

As a member of Team Home, Desai has helped coordinate, and will run gardening programs at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. She encourages students to not only sign up for Global Youth Service Day, but to continue participating in service projects after.  

“The goal is really to make meaningful service; to do something productive,” Desai said.

Students can pick up applications for GYSD in the main office, they are due back by March 11.