Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 07/98) - A group of volunteers have been sighted handing out cupcakes, painting faces or picking up garbage at almost every community event over the past three months.

They have also been known to conduct surveys, paint fences, cook hotdogs, build Web sites, mow lawns and host workshops.

They're a group of hard working, optimistic, and energetic people, and they're all under the age of 20.

In the past year, approximately 89 members of Yellowknife's Youth Volunteer Corps have donated over 1,252 hours of community service to the citizens of Yellowknife.

"Youth are a real resource in the community," says Melissa Hazenberg, program director. "We give youth opportunity as well as facilitate community needs."

Working with groups like the NWT Council for Disabled Persons, Stanton Regional Hospital and the Aven Manor for senior citizens has helped to connect Yellowknife's young people with the rest of the community, says Hazenberg.

Come March, the youth-Yellowknife connection may be severed however, if the non-profit group fails to find another monetary source.

The year-old organization received most of its start-up fees from the City of Yellowknife as well as the territorial and federal governments in the form of "one time only" grants.

"We won't be able to continue offering our services to youth without more corporate sponsorship," says Hazenberg.

Northern News Services, McDonalds and CJCD have shown youth their support in the form of non-cash donations, says Hazenberg, but only about two percent of the group's actual funding comes from Yellowknife's businesses.

In fact, Stewart Weir MacDonald Ltd., a Yellowknife consulting firm, is the group's only corporate financial contributor to date.

With job experience, community needs, learning new skills, social well-being and fun on their minds, the youth advisory committee will meet this September to plan the organization's activities for the fall.

In spite of the uncertainty of their budget, Yellowknife's Youth Volunteer Corps is tentatively making plans for the future.

They have plans to play a stronger role in the city's newly born youth awards. The GNWT has also asked the group to contribute their youth expertise to Northwin, a Web site containing labor market information.