A push for youth development

In partnership with the Orange County Youth Bureau and with the support of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion and the American Legion Riders sponsor, coordinate and support programs for youth development in civic engagement, leadership and service learning in ways unique to veterans’ intimate understanding of patriotism, service and leadership.

These programs are also of enormous value to numerous constituencies in our communities reliant on a pool of well-socialized and competent young people for their own continued success. This includes the business community, volunteer-based essential public services such as firefighters and first responders, police forces and other local government and non-government services that help maintain and improve our way of life here.

These veteran-supported youth development programs include:

Boys’ State and Girls’ State, a storied leadership action program that offers qualified high school juniors training on democratic governance and how citizens are integral to and responsible for their government involving a week-long civics camp upstate (at the end of June for Boys’ State and in early July for Girls’ State) that immerses youth in the practical operation of government modeled on New York State. Applications should be forwarded by the end of February to local American Legion Posts. To download the one-pager with more details, go to the OC Legion page on the Chamber website.

Hudson Valley Honor Flight Youth Guardians: Since the spring of 2024, the Orange County American Legion Riders have been growing a program to enable high school seniors and young veterans to escort Vietnam-era and other veterans on Honor Flight missions to our nation’s capital and receive a “welcome home” for which many veterans have waited over a half-century.

Service-Learning Seminars: The OC Legion and Legion Riders support the National Service Ride Project, in which veterans help motivate and mobilize youth to better themselves, their community, and their country through community service learning. Done with the OC Youth Bureau, these seminars provide the “what” and “why’ of service as well as access to the United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region’s virtual volunteer portal.

Here’s where you can help:

* Help get the word out — through your own networks — on what we do. Invite us to come to your own organizational or board meetings

* Help the Legion find high school age candidates for Boys’ and Girls’ State and the Honor Flight Youth Guardian program. This can help both retention and recruitment of young veterans to this type of community service.

*Consider sponsoring a young person for your community for Boy’s or Girl’s State or the Honor Flight youth guardians for $500 per person. You can also donate directly to the American Legion, (as explained on the Orange American Legion page on the Chamber website).

To learn more about these programs, reach out the Orange County American Legion coordinator for youth activities, Col. (Ret.) Christopher Holshek at holshek@hotmail.com.