While some adults may think youth are only interested in the latest fashions or downloads for their iPods, many young people across the United Church of Canada are reaching out to serve others and learn more about life.

Each March break, a few youth from Port Elgin United Church do some hands-on learning. In the past three years, this Ontario group has helped build homes for El Salvador’s homeless, cleaned up around a St. Thomas, Ontario, home for young mothers, and learned the realities of people struggling with addictions in Hamilton’s inner city.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” says Jake Kononiuk, 16, who helped at the House of Hope in Hamilton last spring. The youth went to clean the home’s basement, but spent time talking with the men in the recovery program.

“You don’t see the drug addiction in a little town like Port Elgin. You hear about it through the grapevine, so I hadn’t seen how it affects people’s lives,” he says, noting the experience prompted him to do more volunteer work in Port Elgin.

Five New Brunswick teens travelled to Iqualuit for a week last summer to paint the inside of a local parish hall. Members of their group had travelled to Newfoundland and B.C. before, but they decided to go North to learn about the region.

“It really sparked an interest in the North for me. I know I would like to go back,” says Fraser MacPherson, 18, now a student at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He’s considering joining campus groups doing literacy and health projects in the North.

The United Church’s Vision Fund offers up to $5,000—$2,500 for a grant and, if the groups do local fundraising, a matching grant of up to $2,500—to support youth and young adult initiatives. For more information on the grants, visit www.united-church.ca/local/loans/vision To read more about initiatives by, and for, young people, visit Mandate on-line: www.united-church.ca/sales/magazines/mandate