Plymouth Beyond Yellow Ribbon further explored  the PBYR mission with Brenda Badger’s Y.E.S. students on December 7, 2017.  This was a follow-up to the prior project and partnering with PBYR in November, 2017 to send treats to deployed MN soldiers.  In the presentation, the students asked many good questions about PBYR.  We addressed many reasons why people  volunteer with  non-profit organizations, such as agreeing with the  mission and to demonstrate support, personal skill development, leadership training and to contribute to a healthy sense of community. Also, the many advantages for Minnesota to have a large network of BYR cities was reviewed in detail as this effort has assisted many people and decreased the military suicide rates over the past several years.

Strategies and reasons for students to connect with PBYR and/or other non-profits was reviewed in detail.  The students seemed to resonate with the PBYR mission and history. Hopefully, they will desire to partner again with PBYR in 2018!  They were reminded that their knowledge and skill with social media could be used effectively by many non-profit organizations, especially as community outreach efforts can take many creative forms in the current digital age.

Gary Goldetsky, Psy.D, LP

PBYR Board Chairman