A Shared Commitment to Service Learning: YMCA & National Park Service Partnership

YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) is celebrating the tenth year of our partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) to provide young people, particularly youth with less access to green spaces, outdoor experiences and excursions to their local park. To date, the partnership has engaged over 100,000 youth in the outdoors and provided many of these participants with their first national park experience! 

Our joint programs teach youth, teen, and young adult participants about recreation opportunities on public lands, as well as the conservation efforts that protect these ecosystems. The YMCA and NPS share a commitment to service, and service learning is a core pillar of the partnership. 

In June, the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington partnered with National Capital Parks-East to host a service learning project with participants in the Y’s Youth & Government program. Teens from across the country were in DC for Y-USA’s annual Youth Governors Conference, and ten students dedicated a service day to helping clean up the grounds at Anacostia Park in Southeast DC. 

In their own words, this is what the service project meant to them: 

“The national parks I have visited have been larger, more well-known parks. Until we went to Anacostia Park, I had never seen a smaller, community national park. During our time at Anacostia Park, we influenced other young people to pick up trash and got encouragement from community members. This helped me to see that the work I was doing was important and helpful to those we were serving.” – Saachi R., Michigan 

“My experience with the National Parks was unexpected. As much as I dreaded picking up trash, seeing our progress at the end was truly rewarding. I feel like this experience brought me closer to the group because we were able to have fun together and get to know each other better without major distractions. Even as we cleaned the park, we used it. We used it as a place to stay for a few hours while we bonded with others.” – Delaney M., Massachusetts 

“It felt empowering that such little of us could do such big things for our community. I plan to get more involved with national parks and regulate more sanitation or clean up legislation as I get older.” – Olivia P., New York 

“I found it beautiful that a place where the community comes together was designated as a national park, something to be protected. At Anacostia we were tasked with helping clean the park, pick up trash, and beautify it. Personally, at first, I was discouraged when cleaning. Seeing all of the work to be done, seeing all of the trash cans overflowing and broken, I kind of thought, ‘What's the point? It’s just going to get littered again.' However, when we were finished my perspective changed. A few ladies walking by said, 'Thank you guys so much for doing this, it really makes a difference.' I think that really made me feel like the afternoon was well worth it. I finally looked up then and saw that we really had made a difference, and I could even feel the pride restored in this community center.” – Arianna L., Delaware 

“I had never experienced D.C. before. I hadn’t even been to a national park, let alone cleaned one, but I am immensely grateful that my peers and I were given the time to do so. It felt good to help Anacostia. The park was thriving with people and activities, but it was clear that it needed help in order for it to stay that way. After only an hour or two of picking up trash, the impact we had on the land was night and day, and it truly made me realize how easy it is to create positive change within a community. I am proud of the service we did at Anacostia, not only because I know it was the right thing to do, but because I know it had the potential to plant the seed in other people’s mind to do so too.” – Emily F., Vermont