We Are Baby Boomers And Millennials:
And yes, not all of us are as different as you might think
And yes, not all of us are as different as you might think
Timothy Scott
It seems philanthropy is a concept and word that is not thrown around too often among Baby Boomers and their Millennial children. Growing up in suburban-white America there were multiple friends of mine who could not stop complaining that the school system was requiring them to fulfill fifteen hours of community service over the course of four months. This concept excited me, as it meant I was going to get school credit for doing something I had been doing for eight or nine years. Like most children I had friends (however few) and they were good kids, kind and caring, but they were all missing something: a charitable endeavor ran by their family; both domestic and extended.
Michael James Daversa passed away from Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) eighteen years ago. The foundation quickly took off as it took a quick year and a half to secure the funds for constuction. Construction on the wheelchair accessible park began in the Autumn of 2000 and the park was officially dedicated in 2001. The longest running fundraising event has been the Mikey’s Place 5K road race, which has been held annually on the third Sunday in October for the past eighteen years.
Looking back on it as an adult now, my mindset as a child fit what the Millennial stereotype is; however, masked by a subconscious thought that I was better than others because of these charitable endeavors. In turn, this created a sort of celebrity feeling in elementary school; one felt by other members of the family as well.
Mary Huffman-Daversa, founder of the Mikey’s Place Foundation, shares a story of when her daughter Danielle was in elementary school: “When Danielle was at Hamner [Elementary School] one of the kids, Max, he was at least a couple of years younger than [her] and it was his first day of school. So we know his mom, and they helped out in the building of Mikey’s Place.
“It was the first day of school and Maxwell came home from school and Sharron goes to him, ‘Max, how was your first day of school?’ and he said it was really good mom. ‘Yeah, do you want to tell me about it?’ [Max replies] you’ll never guess who goes to my school! And she was like ‘who Maxwell?’ [Max replies] the Mikey’s Place girl!’” A kid, after his first day of first grade, only remembered meeting the Mikey’s Place Girl.
As I grew older the subconscious thoughts that I was better than everyone else entered my conscious thoughts through various means and I became aware that I was no better than any specific individual, just had a different mindset than others.
Throughout high school I continued to work with the foundation, helping form a body of work for college applications. When my gap year between colleges came it gave me a body of work for job applications. More so, as college has gone on more charitable opportunities have risen allowing me to serve as a volunteer coach for Little League and town league basketball.
These opportunities have risen through the benefit of having a brother that is ten years younger. Aside from a stay in Florida for my first two years of college, I have witnessed what it is like for someone to grow up as an adult. As his time in town youth sports programs winds down, soon too will my direct link to volunteer coaching. Soon coaching will become a, at most, one season opportunity for me. Gone will be the days of coaching basketball and Little League baseball, exchanged with a lone season of fall baseball.
“This kind of culture, slacktivism is a word that get tossed around a lot, people think there’s this old trope of for your college essay you have to go volunteer in some country and make sure you write about this eye opening experience.” States Danielle Daversa. Daversa recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston College.
Daversa goes on to state that she chose a career in social work because of her childhood. Growing up with the growth of the Mikey’s Place Foundation it became her normal to want to give back. She states that she went into social work because it gave her a way to work and give back simultaneously. Growing up with the foundation changed her view on the word work and she chose a field that allows her to continue to give back to the community.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveyed 60,000 and according to information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Among the employed, 27.2 percent volunteered during the year ending in September 2015. By comparison, 23.3 percent of unemployed persons and 21.4 percent of those not in the labor force volunteered.”
Could this be because of the public school systems across the United States of America? Or could this be because of today’s youth genuinely wanting to give back to the community. Another part of my puberty infested years was spent attending a local church youth group. At first I was only going because there were cousins there, and they would introduce me to some of the people I still call friends today. However, it quickly turned into an avenue to help build character.
One such event led to one of the most frustrating thirty hours of my life. This youth group that I attended participated in “30 Hour Famine”, an event hosted nationwide by World Vision. A look at 30hourfamine.org provides this description of the event, “Your students will grow closer to Christ and each other as they fast together for 30 hours and raise funds to fight hunger… The Famine is totally customizable for groups of all different styles and sizes, so you can choose the format that works best for you.”
Now pair that with a student athlete and you will get the extraordinary dilemma I found myself in junior year of high school. As a member of the boys’ volleyball team the famine part of the experience happened to land on a game day. To combat potentially severe consequences I was advised to drink multiple bottles of water. Little did I know that that would lead to an unplanned stop at a Starbucks in Simsbury, CT so I could use the bathroom. And then multiple trips to the bathroom before and during the game. At least we won.
More agony was on the way though; as the next day the youth group trekked up to Hartford to help with a town work project, only to see the other volunteers being fed cheeseburgers. I don’t remember what work we did that day; only the hundreds of other volunteers eating right in front of our fasting faces.
Though my volunteering opportunities have dwindled in the years since my involvement with the youth group, I’d like to believe that the character and values that have developed will remain with me. Serving as a volunteer youth sports coach as a young adult places you in a position where kids and preteens look to you for guidance and advice; perhaps more-so than that of a parental figure. Presented with an opportunity to coach players playing on a full sized baseball field for the first time I found myself being asked about the perils of high school, college life, and how to talk to girls.
Also stated in the BLS findings: thirty-five to forty-four, and forty-five to fifty-four, year olds were the most likely to volunteer at 28.9 percent and 28 percent respectively. In comparison, Millennial adults, aged twenty to twenty-four, were amongst the lowest to volunteer at a staggering rate of 18.4 percent. By comparison, Millennial children (teenagers) ranked amongst the highest demographics, with over 26 percent volunteering.
Volunteering provides health benefits as well. In a national survey of 3,351 commissioned by UnitedHealth Group in 2013 noted that seventy-six percent of those who volunteered said that volunteering made them feel happier. Additionally, ninety-four percent said that volunteering improved their mood, seventy-eight percent said volunteering reduced stress levels, ninety-six percent said volunteering enriched their lives, and eighty percent said they have control over their health.
Mary Daversa puts the Mikey’s Place Foundation into perepective, “When we decided to do it, I don’t think any of us ever realized the size it would be. Not in size of the park, the size of the project; and how it would take on a life of its own.” Huffman-Daversa goes on to state that she never anticipated the amount of support the community provided as it only took a year and a half to raise over 300,000 dollars.
“It was great therapy for all of us and I think it helped us all grieve easier with the loss of Mikey. And keep us all together as a family.” Huffman-Daversa states on the personal impact of the foundation. “For all that it was wonderful therapy; and in the end our town was given a beautiful gift, of this park, that will live on and on and on.
Everyone once in a while people will post pictures of their kids or grandkids on the park, or check-in on Facebook, creating a fun way for Daversa to interact with the community. Part of Saturday November, 26th was spent to decorate the parks gazeebo with festive lights, a yearly tradition around Thanksgiving.
This year’s decoration provided an opportunity for someone from the community to say thank you back. Huffman-Daversa was approached asked if she was a part of the family. “She was there with her husband and her two little girls and one of her girls has a very rare disorder. When she hits a certain age she will have developmental delays and she might have trouble walking.” The mother thanked Huffman-Daversa for what she did for Mikey and for the community because her daughter will need the ramps.
To donate to 30-Hour Famine: http://youth.worldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.donate
To donate to the Mikey’s Place Foundation:
Checks made out to “The Mikey’s Place Foundation” can be sent to 5 Gristmill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109
It seems philanthropy is a concept and word that is not thrown around too often among Baby Boomers and their Millennial children. Growing up in suburban-white America there were multiple friends of mine who could not stop complaining that the school system was requiring them to fulfill fifteen hours of community service over the course of four months. This concept excited me, as it meant I was going to get school credit for doing something I had been doing for eight or nine years. Like most children I had friends (however few) and they were good kids, kind and caring, but they were all missing something: a charitable endeavor ran by their family; both domestic and extended.
Michael James Daversa passed away from Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) eighteen years ago. The foundation quickly took off as it took a quick year and a half to secure the funds for constuction. Construction on the wheelchair accessible park began in the Autumn of 2000 and the park was officially dedicated in 2001. The longest running fundraising event has been the Mikey’s Place 5K road race, which has been held annually on the third Sunday in October for the past eighteen years.
Looking back on it as an adult now, my mindset as a child fit what the Millennial stereotype is; however, masked by a subconscious thought that I was better than others because of these charitable endeavors. In turn, this created a sort of celebrity feeling in elementary school; one felt by other members of the family as well.
Mary Huffman-Daversa, founder of the Mikey’s Place Foundation, shares a story of when her daughter Danielle was in elementary school: “When Danielle was at Hamner [Elementary School] one of the kids, Max, he was at least a couple of years younger than [her] and it was his first day of school. So we know his mom, and they helped out in the building of Mikey’s Place.
“It was the first day of school and Maxwell came home from school and Sharron goes to him, ‘Max, how was your first day of school?’ and he said it was really good mom. ‘Yeah, do you want to tell me about it?’ [Max replies] you’ll never guess who goes to my school! And she was like ‘who Maxwell?’ [Max replies] the Mikey’s Place girl!’” A kid, after his first day of first grade, only remembered meeting the Mikey’s Place Girl.
As I grew older the subconscious thoughts that I was better than everyone else entered my conscious thoughts through various means and I became aware that I was no better than any specific individual, just had a different mindset than others.
Throughout high school I continued to work with the foundation, helping form a body of work for college applications. When my gap year between colleges came it gave me a body of work for job applications. More so, as college has gone on more charitable opportunities have risen allowing me to serve as a volunteer coach for Little League and town league basketball.
These opportunities have risen through the benefit of having a brother that is ten years younger. Aside from a stay in Florida for my first two years of college, I have witnessed what it is like for someone to grow up as an adult. As his time in town youth sports programs winds down, soon too will my direct link to volunteer coaching. Soon coaching will become a, at most, one season opportunity for me. Gone will be the days of coaching basketball and Little League baseball, exchanged with a lone season of fall baseball.
“This kind of culture, slacktivism is a word that get tossed around a lot, people think there’s this old trope of for your college essay you have to go volunteer in some country and make sure you write about this eye opening experience.” States Danielle Daversa. Daversa recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston College.
Daversa goes on to state that she chose a career in social work because of her childhood. Growing up with the growth of the Mikey’s Place Foundation it became her normal to want to give back. She states that she went into social work because it gave her a way to work and give back simultaneously. Growing up with the foundation changed her view on the word work and she chose a field that allows her to continue to give back to the community.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveyed 60,000 and according to information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Among the employed, 27.2 percent volunteered during the year ending in September 2015. By comparison, 23.3 percent of unemployed persons and 21.4 percent of those not in the labor force volunteered.”
Could this be because of the public school systems across the United States of America? Or could this be because of today’s youth genuinely wanting to give back to the community. Another part of my puberty infested years was spent attending a local church youth group. At first I was only going because there were cousins there, and they would introduce me to some of the people I still call friends today. However, it quickly turned into an avenue to help build character.
One such event led to one of the most frustrating thirty hours of my life. This youth group that I attended participated in “30 Hour Famine”, an event hosted nationwide by World Vision. A look at 30hourfamine.org provides this description of the event, “Your students will grow closer to Christ and each other as they fast together for 30 hours and raise funds to fight hunger… The Famine is totally customizable for groups of all different styles and sizes, so you can choose the format that works best for you.”
Now pair that with a student athlete and you will get the extraordinary dilemma I found myself in junior year of high school. As a member of the boys’ volleyball team the famine part of the experience happened to land on a game day. To combat potentially severe consequences I was advised to drink multiple bottles of water. Little did I know that that would lead to an unplanned stop at a Starbucks in Simsbury, CT so I could use the bathroom. And then multiple trips to the bathroom before and during the game. At least we won.
More agony was on the way though; as the next day the youth group trekked up to Hartford to help with a town work project, only to see the other volunteers being fed cheeseburgers. I don’t remember what work we did that day; only the hundreds of other volunteers eating right in front of our fasting faces.
Though my volunteering opportunities have dwindled in the years since my involvement with the youth group, I’d like to believe that the character and values that have developed will remain with me. Serving as a volunteer youth sports coach as a young adult places you in a position where kids and preteens look to you for guidance and advice; perhaps more-so than that of a parental figure. Presented with an opportunity to coach players playing on a full sized baseball field for the first time I found myself being asked about the perils of high school, college life, and how to talk to girls.
Also stated in the BLS findings: thirty-five to forty-four, and forty-five to fifty-four, year olds were the most likely to volunteer at 28.9 percent and 28 percent respectively. In comparison, Millennial adults, aged twenty to twenty-four, were amongst the lowest to volunteer at a staggering rate of 18.4 percent. By comparison, Millennial children (teenagers) ranked amongst the highest demographics, with over 26 percent volunteering.
Volunteering provides health benefits as well. In a national survey of 3,351 commissioned by UnitedHealth Group in 2013 noted that seventy-six percent of those who volunteered said that volunteering made them feel happier. Additionally, ninety-four percent said that volunteering improved their mood, seventy-eight percent said volunteering reduced stress levels, ninety-six percent said volunteering enriched their lives, and eighty percent said they have control over their health.
Mary Daversa puts the Mikey’s Place Foundation into perepective, “When we decided to do it, I don’t think any of us ever realized the size it would be. Not in size of the park, the size of the project; and how it would take on a life of its own.” Huffman-Daversa goes on to state that she never anticipated the amount of support the community provided as it only took a year and a half to raise over 300,000 dollars.
“It was great therapy for all of us and I think it helped us all grieve easier with the loss of Mikey. And keep us all together as a family.” Huffman-Daversa states on the personal impact of the foundation. “For all that it was wonderful therapy; and in the end our town was given a beautiful gift, of this park, that will live on and on and on.
Everyone once in a while people will post pictures of their kids or grandkids on the park, or check-in on Facebook, creating a fun way for Daversa to interact with the community. Part of Saturday November, 26th was spent to decorate the parks gazeebo with festive lights, a yearly tradition around Thanksgiving.
This year’s decoration provided an opportunity for someone from the community to say thank you back. Huffman-Daversa was approached asked if she was a part of the family. “She was there with her husband and her two little girls and one of her girls has a very rare disorder. When she hits a certain age she will have developmental delays and she might have trouble walking.” The mother thanked Huffman-Daversa for what she did for Mikey and for the community because her daughter will need the ramps.
To donate to 30-Hour Famine: http://youth.worldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.donate
To donate to the Mikey’s Place Foundation:
Checks made out to “The Mikey’s Place Foundation” can be sent to 5 Gristmill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109