Hands On Tokyo Youth Impact Project

Thank you for your generous support of our Youth Impact program. Your contributions are helping us to create meaningful volunteer and personal growth opportunities for high school and college students in Tokyo.

 The Youth Impact program has continued to expand. Before the office closed on December 23rd, we were able to reach 195 students, visiting 2 new schools in December. The demand for volunteer projects has never been higher. In 2017, we had 130 students affiliated with the Youth Impact project volunteer at Hands On Tokyo.

 There are many NPOs that offer programs for youth. What makes Hands On Tokyo unique is our accessibility. Young people can immediately sign up to volunteer without being subjected to prolonged process. We offer 27 projects that range from athletics with down syndrome, education for visually impaired, and tango therapy for senior citizens and our young volunteers have taken full advantage of the wealth of programs we offer.

 Our young volunteers` favorite projects are teaching English to visually impaired individuals, institutionalized children, and athletics with special needs individuals. They continue to return to these projects and develop relationships with the recipients of services. Some are even in the process of becoming volunteer leaders. Our volunteers have remarked that there is nothing quite like the feeling of being recognized by a community partner despite months of being away and being responsible for positive outcomes of projects.

 Another way Hands On Tokyo is meeting the demand for volunteering opportunities is by creating new projects that students have requested.

 We had a very positive start to the project creation program with the English lesson with down syndrome students at Shinagawa Aquarium. Every volunteer was able to build a one on one relationship with a down syndrome recipient, as they taught vocabulary about the colorful fish and playful dolphins at the aquarium. The Youth Impact volunteers were delighted to see a program they had created come together so smoothly, and they gained confidence in their ability to lead a project. In addition, our high school volunteers were deeply moved by the experience and loved spending time with their partners. The day ended with volunteers and their down syndrome students walking back to the station hand in hand, chatting and laughing together. It is moments like these that linger with our volunteers and the reason why their commitment to volunteerism becomes deeper.

 In 2018, Hands On Tokyo wants to empower young volunteers to become agents of positive change in their communities. Our volunteers are not just getting experience working with individuals with variety of different needs; they are also learning about how to become advocates for people who are overlooked because of their disabilities. Ultimately the main objective of the Youth Impact program is for young people to use their experiences with us to begin a dialogue about how to empower people with special needs and institutionalized children. With your support, we will continue to create more projects that young people can lead and get in the field experiences with.

 Thus far, we have organized two projects for Youth Impact volunteers: a theater project with a children`s home and providing assistance to students at special needs public high school in Tokyo. We are also hoping to have spring related projects with special needs and children as well. We will be sure to discuss how the projects turned out in our next report.

 Thank you again for supporting Youth Impact. This project has moved forward because you believe volunteerism is most impactful at a young age and we need to invest in educating high school and college students now. We hope that you will consider another donation to creating a socially conscious generation at Hands On Tokyo.