YAV alums Sandra Moon and Laura Polk enjoy breakfast at the YAV Alumni event. Photo by Heather Grantham.Necessary networking

Young Adult Volunteers gather for first alumni reunion, discuss shared experiences

For about 40 former Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult Volunteers, Labor Day weekend meant more than an extra day off work. The first YAV alumni reunion was Sept. 4-6. The holiday weekend didn’t seem to deter many YAVs from attending, said Essie Buxton, associate for young adult and national volunteers. YAVs seemed eager to reconnect with old friends and share stories with people who have similar experiences.

Read more about the Young Adult Volunteer Alumni event.

Stay connected with YAV alumni

If you served as a YAV at any point during or after 1994 (the first year that YAV was in existence as a program), you are a YAV alum! Regardless of where you served or how your year(s) went, you share an extraordinary experience with others who have also gave a year (or more) of their life. We in the YAV office are grateful for the time that you spent in service, and are humbled by your continued dedication to and support of the program. Now, many of you are mentors of young adults (while still young adults yourselves, of course), youth and kids. Many applicants each year cite a relationship with a former YAV as the reason that they decided to apply to the program. Thank you for this!

Through the YAV alumni network, we hope to strengthen the support and community which is unique in many ways to YAV participants, through national and regional events. We also want to provide the opportunity for recently returned YAVs to find support from those who have "been there," during their time of adjusting to post-YAV life, connecting veteran YAV with their younger counterparts.

Are you a former YAV? Fill out this form to join the YAV alumni network.

Where are they now?

More than 700 YAV alumni live in the United States, and some live in other places in the world. Use this Google map to find them. The locations of some of our alumni are listed here.

Don’t see yourself on this map? If you’re an alum of the YAV program and would like your location to be listed on the map, email Essie Buxton with your name, year. place of service and current location.

Tell us your story!

We in the YAV office are always in need of more stories about the YAV experience — whether it’s a story about your own experience, about someone with whom you worked, or about how your YAV year shaped the rest of your life. Please let us know if it’s okay to use your story for promotional material or publication. Email your story to Essie Buxton.

Interested in recruiting?

Interested in recruiting in your area, at your alma mater or at a nearby college or university? We need you to recruit for the YAV Program!

Chances are, you learned about the program from a former YAV or someone who knew a former YAV. You can be that person for a soon-to-be college graduate or anyone else under 30 who is looking for service and discernment opportunities.

Tell us where you would like to recruit by filling out this form and we will provide you with up-to-date information on the program, as well as promotional items, to make you extra-popular with the group you’re speaking with.