YVC Day 2021: The Butterfly Effect

This year, YVC Calgary decided to celebrate YVC Day with a kaleidoscope of butterflies! But first off…

What is YVC?

The Youth Volunteer Corps (or YVC) program began in 1987 as a summer service program for Kansas City youth in the US. Over the years, it has evolved into an international network of over 30 affiliated organizations spanning the US and Canada. Affiliates can run independently or be hosted by a non-profit organization (such as Youth Central in Calgary!) and offer volunteer opportunities to youth aged 12 – 18, enabling them to impact a variety of community needs. 

… so then what is YVC Day?

The answer is very simple: a day where YVC affiliates come together to celebrate YVC, the spirit of volunteerism, and the amazing youth who do amazing work in the community! The theme this year was the Butterfly Effect. Just for fun, in science jargon, as according to Oxford Languages, this is:

In chaos theory, the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.

If you’re wanting an even more convoluted, impenetrable definition, try this Wikipedia quote: 

The butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.

Anyways…

Totally regardless of these mind-boggling definitions, in the context of YVC Day, the Butterfly Effect is recognizing the idea that even the smallest and simplest of kind actions can set off a chain reaction, a movement of compassion, and have greater impacts than we ever intended or imagined.

To encourage youth to reflect on, appreciate and demonstrate this kind of ripple effect in their lives and communities, YVC Calgary volunteers virtually painted butterfly templates, which were printed and arranged into one, cohesive art piece (as shown in the featured picture). 

Each of us holds this power to accomplish meaningful change, to leave an imprint in the endless echoes of time, especially when we continually inspire one another to keep spreading kindness. When we all participate, no deeds done with an open-hearted, well-meaning intention are ever insignificant; they inevitably grow into a larger impact. A thoughtful gesture can be as simple as holding the door open for a stranger, paying your friend a compliment, or helping your family make dinner. When we do these simple yet so important things, when we come together to confront uncertainty and unpredictability, we fill not only others’ hearts with warmth and hope, but also our own. Our actions contribute, cascade, amplify into something so much bigger than ourselves.

References: 1

Images: 1