Founded in 1983 at a community service conference in New York, Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP) is a Quaker nonprofit inspired by the international workcamp movement that began in the 1920s. YSOP programs are nonsectarian, emphasize service learning, and have focused on various issues over the years, including refugee aid work and housing and food insecurity.
Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, the YSOP Connex program brings students and seniors together in small groups to connect, converse, and learn through virtual conversations, and as of 2022, in-person service projects as well.
Connex ran several programs with Iona Preparatory School in fall 2023 at Purchase Meeting in West Harrison, N.Y. Several more programs ran in February and March 2024. High school students and senior citizens got to know one another and experienced new perspectives. Also in February and March, Connex hosted both virtual and in-person programming for women and girls with the Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn, N.Y.
There were also several in-person service projects for seniors and high school students in Pelham, N.Y., and middle school students in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. Volunteers worked together to make blankets for area families in need.
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