With Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) coming up, local youth are leading a week of activities that will culminate with Clean Evansville on April 12.

Coordinated by USI’s Service Learning Program, participants will join millions of others around the globe who are celebrating GYSD.

“This is the second year that we’ve worked with the city,” said Anne Statham, service learning program director.

She said the overall goal is to honor and recognize youth for the service they provide and to help encourage young people to take leadership positions in their community.

“We recognize it was already happening,” Statham said.

More than 600 youth participated last year, she said, and an expected 600 to 700 will clean parks and some downtown areas this year.

“We’ve got several different (USI) organizations that have signed up to participate,” Statham said. “We want to get the parks ready for spring and bring neighborhoods and families together around that.”

She said they’ve already identified 15 parks and some other areas to clean, including a nature preserve.

“I think this is a really good idea,” said Lindsay Fife, freshman elementary education major. “I think this should be done more than once a year.”

Fife said the activity is educational and helpful for Evansville youth.

“I didn’t know about it, but it sounds exciting,” she said.

Freshman pre-nursing major Megan Huff said USI students should participate in the event to benefit the city.

“College students should go teach high schoolers and younger kids to clean their city,” Huff said.

She said this type of event is worth the time and effort.

The event will be followed by a free lunch and celebration of youth service at Garvin and Howell Parks in Evansville.

To register by today, email Statham at [email protected].