The nation's first and only day set aside to bridge the generational divide by bringing young people and adults together as partners through neighborhood volunteering takes place Saturday, June 17. Join Hands Day is an opportunity for adults and young people to come together and make life better in their communities, working side by side to improve neighborhoods and learn from and about each other. Sponsored by America's Fraternal Benefit Societies in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation and the national network of Volunteer Centers, Join Hands Day encourages inter-generational partnerships that foster greater mutual understanding, respect, and trust. Dutton noted that adults and young people who live in the same community, and even in the same neighborhood, are often strangers.
Many young people have little interaction with adults except their teachers and family members.
And many adults know few young people outside their own circle of family and friends. The result is often a disconnection that can lead to misunderstanding and misgiving of one group toward the other. An important goal of Join Hands Day is to make it an event that engages young people and adults as project partners in the entire process from the planning stages to the actual work. Local Volunteer Centers will serve as facilitators in communities, helping connect individuals and groups and dentify neighborhood needs. This new national day of volunteering will be scheduled annually on the third Saturday in June, when most schools have closed for summer vacation.