Join Hands on Manatee! and The ManaTEEN Club in accepting the National Learn & Serve Challenge, October 6-12, 2008

The National Learn & Serve Challenge is a perfect opportunity to celebrate service-learning here in Manatee County. October 6-12 marks the kickoff week to raise awareness about service-learning successes across the country.

Through service-learning, young people can “BE A SOLUTION” to real world challenges that face our community, nation and the world. In our community, ManaTEENs host LOTS of service learning opportunities through programs/projects created and lead by local teens. You can “BE A SOLUTION” too!

Help us spread the word about the positive impact service-learning has on young people and our community.

ManaTEENs Receive $82,500 Grant from State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board!

By JESSICA KLIPA
jklipa@bradenton.com

Every time Laura Lockwood sees the name, ManaTeens, she has to laugh.

As a founder of the organization, Lockwood can hardly forget the early days when she and about 20 teenagers took on the messy job of painting an elderly woman's home. When people noticed their work and asked about their group, they made up ManaTeens on the spot.

Then a sixth-grader at King Middle School, Lockwood started the group with her sister, Kat McKell, because her grades had kept her from being able to participate in volunteer programs at school. Organizing neighborhood projects and getting the word out about the group not only gave her a sense of pride but also challenged her to be creative.

Now, as the program director for ManaTeens 13 years later, Lockwood helps teens fulfill their dreams of inventing new ways to reach out to the community.

"That's one of those secrets of getting teens to volunteer is to make it fun and creative," she said.

As the largest locally-based, teen-volunteer program in the country, ManaTeens has been replicated in 40 communities in the United States. The program, which is one of 87 programs run by the Volunteer Center of Manatee County, has enlisted the help of more than 70,000 teens since its inception in 1994, said Adraine LaRoza, executive director of Volunteer Center of Manatee County and the Florida Inland Communities. About 7,000 are active members, which include teens who have turned in volunteer hours in the last three months, she said.

ManaTeens recently was recognized for its creativity when it won a $500 cash prize for placing second in the Innovations in International Youth Volunteering project, which profiled 22 projects in 17 countries. The money will go toward Pet Awareness with Seniors, a program where teens raise funds to collect dog and cat food and deliver it each month to low-income seniors with pets, LaRoza said.

"We try to empower these kids to find a gap in the community that is not being addressed," she said. "We have proven that if you create flexible opportunities and a variety of opportunities that youth will volunteer on their own not because somebody told them to do so."

Of the issues that are important to teenagers in Manatee County, the majority value animal welfare. The Big Breath and Bark program was born when a 13 year old read a story about how 7,000 dogs and cats die every year of smoke inhalation because fire departments don't have equipment they need to help the animals. The group now has raised money to purchase equipment to treat cats and dogs for every fire truck in Manatee County.

"We don't give them the money, but we do give them the time and expertise so that they can make it happen," LaRoza said.

Much like Lockwood, students who don't necessarily make the best grades can nevertheless take leadership.

Lockwood, who has received scholarships to college for her volunteerism, encourages teens who may not qualify for academic scholarships but may be eligible for service-based scholarships.

"There is hope after high school and middle school even if you aren't the football quarterback or the student council president," she said.