HOBY alumna Kimberly Phares founded a chapter of “Habitat for Humanity” at her high school in Vestavia, Alabama and helped fund and build their first house for a family in need.
HOBY alumnus Brian Burrows helped local telethons raise over $2 million dollars for the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania.
HOBY challenges all alumni to put their leadership skills into action through community service. This is our “Leadership for Service Challenge” where we ask students to commit to completing at least 100 hours of service to their communities during the year following their HOBY experience. The hours are logged on our website and recognition is given to those who meet the challenge.
Your community service project can be any altruistic service in which you donate your time and energy to improve your community and the lives of others. Be creative in finding volunteer activities that are fun and enjoyable, and also enhance the quality of life for those around you. Find out more about a network of organizations already serving the community that would welcome your help! Once you choose your project and begin your service create your username and password and begin logging your hours.
HOBY encourages you to go beyond just doing community service to leading service projects. For example, you could coordinate a Community Leadership Workshop (CLeW) in your area. Learn more about starting a CLEW.
Alumni completing 100 hours or more of community service within one year of their program attendance are recognized and rewarded for their service.
You will receive the following awards*:
*Awards are subject to change.
“Thank you for sending your HOBY ambassadors to volunteer with us at Syphax Village… The derelict and abandoned school, across the street from a public housing complex, used to be the site of frequent drug activity. Today, it stands as a visible symbol of what can be accomplished through partnerships and developing community relationships with local stakeholders… We are excited about the possibility of having you work with us again.”
Anne-Claire Hervy - Manna Inc., Washington, DC
On April 29, 1997, Ret. General Colin Powell led an unprecedented gathering in Philadelphia called the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future. In an effort to aid our nation’s youth the Summit brought together organizations and individuals from the private, public and non-profit sectors, including 150 HOBY Ambassadors from the Pennsylvania East region. They worked side by side with General Colin Powell doing community service—painting over graffiti and cleaning up the 3500 block of Germantown Avenue.
During this historic event, a national campaign was started called, “America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth” to drive the mission and goals of the Summit forward. America’s Promise has challenged and inspired thousands of individuals, organizations, and communities to develop programs that will ensure our youth become productive, responsible adults. HOBY joined the campaign and made a commitment to implement a service component in its programs, called “Leadership for Service,” consisting of hands-on community service projects, speaker presentations about volunteerism, training in goal-setting and project planning, and a challenge to all participants to conduct 100 hours of community service. The program also tracks their progress and recognizes those who meet the challenge.