Operation Open Door

By Nate White
Youth Committee Chair, Operation Open Door

Every April, young people across the country serve their
communities as part of National Youth Service Day, and many of these
projects continue long after the event is over. Such is the case with
Operation Open Door. Organizers of the project — including Youth
Committee Chair Nate White, 16, and his Mother, Elizabeth White — held
a roundtable session on the project on March 18, 2005, at The 16th Annual National Service-Learning Conference, in Long Beach, Calif.

Do you ever get the feeling you're part of something bigger?
Something better? Something incredible? I get that feeling every time I
hear the words "Operation Open Door," "service-learning," or "National
Youth Service Day."

I'm part of a group of dedicated volunteers who founded Operation
Open Door, a youth-led service-learning project, for the 2002 National
Youth Service Day. A project of Johnson County (Kan.) 4-H, OOD serves
local senior citizens who need assistance with household tasks. It
brings youths and seniors together to build friendships, and provides
better understanding between generations.

Here's a sad and disturbing statistic for you: Seventy percent of
Meals on Wheels recipients (who make up the majority of our clientele)
see only their driver each day! This statistic was one of the main
reasons we decided to focus on MOW participants. Spending a few minutes
visiting with someone may not seem like much, but it can make a huge
difference in his or her life.

MOW drivers distribute invitational flyers one month prior to an OOD
event. As the Youth Committee Chair, I start getting phone calls about
15 minutes later. Clients call to request specific jobs, from raking
leaves and cleaning flowerbeds to flipping mattresses and changing
light bulbs.

A committee of eight to 10 youths and adults coordinates Operation
Open Door. On the day of the event, 150 energetic and eager volunteers
gather at 8 a.m. We distribute supplies, water bottles, maps, T-shirts,
and assignments. Then the volunteers "scatter and serve." Full-day
volunteers spend one hour at each client's home, and typically visit
four to six clients over the course of the day. When finished, they
return with their supplies and stories. Everyone is pumped up from
making and helping new friends, and is feeling more appreciative of his
or her own life. The organizing committee makes notes of any ongoing
needs or safety concerns, and we improve our project through reflection
and evaluations.

Seventy-five percent of our volunteers are "repeaters." We have a
strong base because we are flexible, organized, family friendly, and
meeting real needs in the community. Of the 700 youths enrolled in
Johnson County 4-H, 100 of them participate in each event!

For the youths involved, it's not only a chance to serve, but a
chance to learn as well. At the beginning of the year, each 4H member
sets learning goals, and at the close of that year, we evaluate the
knowledge and skills learned. OOD has helped volunteers meet many of
those goals, particularly the development of strong leadership,
citizenship, and public speaking skills—skills that we can later teach
to others. 4-H also emphasizes life skills — including decision making,
problem solving, critical thinking, goal setting, planning and
organizing, cooperation, diversity, making healthy life choices,
responsible citizenship, and teamwork — and youths involved in OOD
practice all of them.

The program has been a huge success. Though it started out as a NYSD
event, the demand was so great that it now takes place twice a year, on
NYSD in April and again in October. In between, we have offshoot
projects, including Nate's Bank, which matches clients and volunteers
throughout the year, and Tuesday Friends, which meets weekly to help
families in dire need. Beyond that, we've built lasting relationships
in the community that are bigger and better than anything we'd
imagined. That's truly being a part of something incredible.