If youth get involved, community will benefit in future

Up to 80 local high school students will buck the stereotype of teens who only care about themselves by spending their spring break helping beautify the grounds of the Original Gangster’s Basic Academy of Development — a Nampa nonprofit youth agency providing intervention, education and work training for youth prone to gang involvement.

The March 28-29 project, spawned by United Way of Treasure Valley, will allow high schoolers to make a difference in their community. They’ll spend the night on the OG’sBAD campus in Nampa. Their daytime activities will include planting flowers and trees, constructing benches, installing shutters, a walkway, and forming basketball and volleyball courts.

Roughly 20 Boise teens and several adult advisers began meeting and planning the endeavor in January, and now they’re looking to convince Canyon County students to seize the opportunity.

This project means much more than just sprucing up a facility. Its true importance is as a prime example of the extraordinary effect ordinary people — that includes youth — can have on their surrounding communities.

Having overwhelming charisma, a 4.0 grade-point average or a slew of football scholarship offers doesn’t matter when it comes to volunteerism. All those involved need is a willing heart.

The fruits of such efforts can be incredible. Even simply improving the OG’sBAD site could make a big difference. It’s an investment in a program that helps saves kids from a life of gang activity. Its youth helping youth. Its a chance to help create an environment that OG’sBAD attendees can take pride in.

According to 2002 statistics from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Canyon County is one of the top three U.S. communities needing gang intervention programming. OG’sBAD helps address this problem; it served about 65 students last year.

But the benefits of this spring break project go far beyond the needs of one anti-gang program. If helping others can catch on as a trend among young Canyon County residents — and if local students will get on board with this upcoming endeavor — the area will reap the rewards for many years to come.