Other than riding...

A blog hop from Now That's The Spot:  

What other activities, hobbies, or sports do you do outside of riding?

My other hobby is volunteering, primarily through the Young Leaders Society. It's an affinity group of the United Way of Ventura County and is made up of young professionals. We create and implement programs and events to enrich local youth, especially at-risk youth, in the areas of education, income, and health. I currently serve on the Board, and I have also been a member of the executive team (Vice Chair and Membership Chair) as well as serve on planning committees for multiple programs.

So what does my involvement look like, you ask?  I'm the blonde in the below photos.

We volunteer at various youth enrichment events throughout the year:

We've created an annual family health and fitness event (Fun In The Sun, or FITS)

to expose children and families to various forms of exercise:

We give out scholarships to hard working students:

We table at community events to promote our programs and share resources:

We have fun together as a group:

Surprisingly, a 5k can be fun!

We have planning meetings. Lots of them:

Last week, I was awarded the Youth Empowerment Award by YLS at a large fancy awards luncheon in front of 400 people!  A videographer pre-recorded my acceptance speech and I was commended by numerous local dignitaries and politicians for my years of service with YLS. Several people and organizations were awarded, but I was the only young professional. It was a fun and inspiring event.

I was surprisingly moved by receiving this award. I've never been much for ribbons or trophies. I volunteer in order to help the community, but I admit it was very nice to have my efforts be recognized and publicly appreciated. It truly touched me to be commended by so many people.

I'm in the crazy patterned shirt in the middle, surrounded by some other YLS members.

Great blog hop - it's been interesting to peek into fellow bloggers' non-horsey aspects of their lives.

Join the hop here!