Spotlighting our Y.O.U. Volunteers for National Volunteer Month
Hear from Y.O.U. Volunteers and Students on the Impact of Volunteering
April 23, 2025 | By Dani Young, Communications & Marketing Specialist
In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, we are highlighting our Y.O.U. volunteers who help support our programs. Volunteering with Youth Opportunities Unlimited provides teens and young adults a chance to practice their skills learned in the classroom and on the job. Examples of volunteering includes reviewing resumes, hosting mock interviews, sharing industry knowledge and assisting with events. Y.O.U. is grateful for these professionals for taking the time to help empower our future workforce.
Many of our volunteer assignments involve going into schools and working with our Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) students. Taught by Y.O.U. staff, the JOG program is an in-school, for-credit course designed to prepare students for success after graduation.
“With JOG, I make sure that I am always signed up for mock interviews, to review resumes, and really to help individuals sharpen up when they're ready to present themselves to employers,” Y.O.U. Board Member LaTina Johnson said. “JOG is really important, and I think it is one of the most important things that Y.O.U. does to make sure the students are ready for work.”
Volunteers assist JOG students with mock interviews.
JOG student Abraham from John Marshall School of Information Technology noted how the volunteers helped him figure out what to put on his resume.
“It was my first time making one, and I didn't really have any real experience or anything to put on it,” he said. “So they helped me figure out what kind of things I could put on it. And that really helped me a lot.”
Dana, JOG student from Cleveland Heights High School, also didn’t have a resume before the Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates program.
“They definitely gave me a lot of tips for how to write my resume and what to include, which definitely helped me,” Dana said. “And I now have a working resume that I can use for applying to jobs and even college, which is definitely something I'm looking at.”
Greg Ferrazza, Y.O.U. Board Member and Senior Vice President with First National Bank, has volunteered with Youth Opportunities Unlimited for more than 20 years. He wanted to support the community and saw the need for reliable employees from his clients and the marketplace. He and his colleagues often help prepare the JOG students for the annual Youth Career Olympics.
Greg Ferrazza coaches a student at the NCA Knowledge Bowl during the 2024 Youth Career Olympics.
“It's been a very rewarding experience. Especially the fact that we can then go to the Career Olympics and watch them compete,” Ferrazza said. His favorite volunteer story is from the 2024 Youth Career Olympics when he coached a student in the Knowledge Bowl who unexpectedly had to compete solo against teams of three people.
“Really for me, it was just giving him encouragement. He had the capability, I just had to give him the confidence,” Ferrazza said, noting how fulfilling it is having a one-on-one connection with a student.
“Personally, I get more out of it than I think the students do because I see the student’s eyes light up when they finally get it. When I see that, it's very rewarding for me,” Ferrazza said, adding how the students feel good having a personal coach that's out in the working field coming in and giving them advice.
A Y.O.U. volunteer poses with a JOG student.
Eliseo Cruz-Garcia, Community Development Officer at First Federal Lakewood, has volunteered with Y.O.U. for two years. He also enjoys sharing his knowledge and helping the students learn about different careers.
“I started volunteering because I like to share my expertise in financial literacy and career readiness with the students,” Cruz-Garcia said. “Just because I feel like they're the future, and I want them to be more prepared than when I was when I entered the workforce.”
His favorite thing while volunteering with Y.O.U. is also the Youth Career Olympics, where he has helped judge the Prepared Speaking event.
“Being able to see the stories that the kids prepare — and they're so ready to present — is really rewarding,” Cruz-Garcia said, noting how hard it is to pick a winner. “It's one of my favorite times to volunteer. And I think the whole process of helping them get there is also very rewarding.” (You can check out all of the 2025 Prepared Speaking participants videos here).
“It is very rewarding to shape the next generation of leaders.”
Cleveland Heights JOG student E’lyana, who was the Prepared Speaking winner at this year’s YCO, noted how helpful the mock interviews were.
“I've never had a job where I had to have an interview. So the mock interviews definitely helped me prepare for that,” E’lyana said. “The mock interviews help me build the skills I need to properly interview for a job.”
Cruz-Garcia said people should consider volunteering with Y.O.U. because there are “a lot of opportunities available based on your location. There's a school or an opportunity close to you.”
“Y.O.U. is a great program, they really help the community. And I really enjoy being part of it,” he said. “It is very rewarding to shape the next generation of leaders. You don't know the impact that you may have on someone.”
Through the assistance of our volunteers, Youth Opportunities Unlimited continues to be Northeast Ohio’s leader in youth workforce development.
Y.O.U. offers a variety of volunteering assignments throughout the year. Interested in becoming a Y.O.U. volunteer? Visit our Volunteer page for more details and check out our VOMO page for upcoming volunteer opportunities.