Global Youth Service Day has a unique and influential way of promoting volunteerism in countries all over the world. Below are some ways YES alumni served their communities for GYSD 2017. 

In celebration of GYSD, ten YES alumni in Bangladesh organized a one-day workshop called, “My Voice Matters” to teach students about Citizen Journalism. The workshop provided tools and strategies for writing and reporting local news and introduced platforms for blogging. The students were also trained in editing and maintaining the work space of a WordPress blog to share news and research on societal topics. 

In Cameroon, YES alumni organized a clothing drive for 50 orphans at La Compassion, an orphanage in Douala. The alumni reached out to members of their community for donations and distributed clothes, food, and cleaning supplies to children at the orphanage.

The combination of Earth Day and GYSD was celebrated in Liberia as YES alumni organized an event under the theme: Promoting Green Environment through Recycling & Youth Volunteerism. The alumni invited current YES finalists and over 100 students from several schools in Bomi and Cape Mount counties to learn about the importance of GYSD and shared their experiences with celebrating GYSD in the U.S. YES alumni in Mali also celebrated GYSD and Earth Day simultaneously by joining U.S. Embassy officials and USAID to participate in a clean-up day organized by the U.S. Embassy. The alumni visited schools, hospitals, and other sites to demonstrate the importance of keeping the community clean. The clean-up was held in a small community outside of Bamako called Commune De Mande in Ouenzeinbougou.