Click here for a list of current YouthFriends Partners.

Businesses and organizations large and small have discovered that YouthFriends is a good way to give back to the community. And, it not only benefits young people, it provides positive results for employees and members, too. Hallmark, Sprint, Bernstein-Rein Advertising, Inc., TradeNet Publishing, St. James United Methodist Church, Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Westar Energy and ALLTEL are just a few of the Employer and Organizational Partners promoting positive adult relationships with children and youth through YouthFriends.

According to an article entitled, Corporate Volunteer Programs: Benefits to Business*, published by The Points of Light Foundation, volunteerism benefits employees and organization members in many ways:

    • Builds teamwork skills
    • Enhances training
    • Encourages employees and members to find new situations in which to apply skills
    • Encourages employees and members to develop new skills and employ skills that may not be

       typically utilized in the workplace
    • Improves morale and promotes a greater sense of self-worth
    • Improves employee/member retention

Employers and organizations also benefit in many ways:

    • Increases employee productivity
    • Positively impacts overall productivity
    • Enhances the employer's/organization's public image and total community relations
    • Results in employees who are more enthusiastic and who view employer more positively
    • Attracts better employees and members
    • Allows the employers and organizations to gain new channels of information for input regarding

      community priorities and potentially in decision-making
    • Provides employers and organizations another venue to meet strategic objectives
    • Provides opportunities, such as online mentoring, that allow employees to mentor students without 

      leaving the workplace.

Clearly, the community benefits tremendously from corporate and organizational volunteerism:

    • Provides a relatively low-cost way for employers to apply valuable resources to community needs
    • Allows on-the-job talents and skills to be transferred to volunteer positions for use in community

      problem-solving
    • Helps create "healthier" communities
    • Improves communities' relationship with government
    • Enhances the impact of monetary contributions received by the community

For information about becoming a YouthFriends Employer or Organizational Partner,
contact Laura Norris at 816.842.7082.

*Source: The Conference Board, Corporate Volunteer Programs: Benefits to Business, Report Number 1029, 1993, The Points of Light Foundation.