Youth United held their annual Soup Night or “Youth for Youth” event on March 3. Youth United is a volunteer group for students grades sixth through twelfth. They give students the opportunity to gain leadership skills and give back to their community through fundraising events such as Soup Night.
Youth United in the Washington County area has 27 active participants who help put together events like Soup Night. These volunteers help with decorating, catering and setting everything up so everyone has a good time.
Assistant Director of Youth United, Kristin Kroll, explained that putting together Soup Night took a lot of planning and a lot of different people working on many aspects of the event. Despite the extensive work required for this event, Kroll explained that seeing the community’s generosity and the students’ work come together was the greatest reward of the night.
Unfortunately, Youth United only has one event like Soup Night because of the amount of planning and preparation that goes into it.
Audrey Hilton, a senior at Mahtomedi and Youth United volunteer explained that they do not do events like Soup Night as often as she would like, but she thought a “barbecue style event in the summer would be really fun.” Nonetheless, she still enjoys Soup Night to its fullest.
The goal for Soup Night was to raise as much money as they could, as this is their biggest fundraising event. With the money raised from this event, Youth United seeks out other youth organizations in need around the community to give back to.
“In the future, I hope we can get more people here, sell more tickets and just raise more money to help people in need,” Youth United volunteer and junior Sawyer Tilden said.
Youth United’s number one goal is to teach leadership, but also to allow students to interact with the public and take on responsibilities and follow through with those responsibilities.
“They are really learning how to start up a conversation with a stranger, with a guest at an event, and taking responsibility for planning something from the beginning to complete execution,” Kroll explained.
Youth United volunteers say joining Youth United is a really easy way to give back and get involved in the community. It is also a great way to learn lifelong skills.
Hilton explained that by being a part of Youth United, the most prominent life skill she has learned is confidence. Hilton found that she has grown to be more confident in what she has to say when speaking with people she does not know. The responses she would get from sharing her own thoughts and feelings were what really helped her strengthen this skill.
Youth United spreads generosity through the community while teaching their volunteers important life skills. They value leadership and being involved in the community to make a difference. Soup Night is just one of many ways Youth United strives to make an impact for those in need. Youth United is looking forward to another great year of spending time in the community and giving back.
