(Posted 2021 June)
The Young Men's Service League Vienna-Oakton chapter (YMSL-VO) was founded in 2014. Today, they have 123 boys and 115 moms. Their mission is, "To assist, serve and support those who are in need in our community, develop leadership skills among our membership, and promote mother-son relationships.”
It provides mothers and sons valuable, philanthropic opportunities to bond and serve together during their high school years. They make a four-year commitment, with a minimum of 20 hours of service per year. Each mother and son must individually serve in a job or leadership position, and roles offer valuable experience and leadership growth. They also attend meetings, with a variety of speakers and learning opportunities.
When the pandemic hit, YMSL got busy creating multiple ways to continue to offer their volunteer services while social distancing. The philanthropy that Tina Matsukas supports is “Fairfax Seniors.” Her son, Nick, created Virtual Bingo for the Herndon Senior Center at the beginning of summer in 2020.
Bingo was offered through a personal Zoom platform, once a week. For several weeks, Nick would meet virtually with a group of older adults and call bingo numbers and letters. He then trained the other boys and placed it on the monthly YMSL calendar so other members could help run the game. When the boys returned to school, bingo transitioned to the Virtual Center for Active Adults.
YMSL has further supported older adults by writing notes to people in Herndon and Fairfax, under the Volunteer Solutions’ “Caring Cards” initiative. The boys have also done small, odd jobs for Herndon Senior Center (pre-pandemic and during), for example, Nick brought home their wooden backgammon game, glued, and fixed it. They’ve done outdoor gardening at the center, too.
Their other outdoor activities have included cleaning up yards for the past few years during Volunteer Solutions’ annual, Helping Hands projects. YMSL has also collaborated with the Fairfax County Park Authority to clean up debris, pull weeds, and spruce up historical sites.
During this past year, they helped with the Cornerstones PPE Drive (a local non-profit.) They assembled bags of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that contained a face mask, hand gel and a face shield that were distributed to school-age children, outside in Reston.
Women Giving Back is yet another philanthropy that YMSL supports. The boys and moms sort and box clothes, make shelves and assist during the shopping hours.
These are just a few of the many examples of the wonderful work that these young men and their mothers have been doing for several years. Learn more about the Young Men's Service League Vienna-Oakton chapter (YMSL-VO) and the long list of the philanthropies they support.
This article is part of the Department of Family Services Older Adults Volunteer Solutions Caring Community Updates e-news – providing a variety of updates and articles about our volunteers in action. Learn more about Volunteer Solutions.