More than 225 community leaders, supporters, volunteers, students, and partners gathered at the Reading Public Museum on July 24 to celebrate VOiCEup Berks\u2019 10th Anniversary Gala, \u201cRooted in Service: Celebrating a Decade of Growth.\u201d The evening honored the people who helped build the organization while celebrating the thousands of young people whose lives have been transformed through service-learning.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2016 by Christi Terefenko, Christie Botterbusch, and Rachel Kuhn, VOiCEup Berks began with a simple belief: young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they have the power to make a difference today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat began as a small group of middle school students serving their community has grown into a countywide movement,\u201d Executive Director Christi Terefenko shared during the evening. \u201cOur greatest accomplishment isn\u2019t the number of volunteer hours or the grants we\u2019ve received. It\u2019s every young person who leaves one of our programs believing, \u2018I can make a difference.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, VOiCEup Berks has engaged more than 5,000 unduplicated young people in over 68,000 hours of service, helping youth develop leadership skills while addressing some of Berks County\u2019s most pressing needs. Through programs including Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading (YVCR), the IGNITE in-school service-learning curriculum, Youth Mental Health Ambassadors, STAR, and the Generation Impact initiative for young adults, the organization has intentionally built a pathway that empowers young people to become lifelong civic leaders.<\/p>\n
The evening also marked another significant milestone in the organization\u2019s history. Earlier this year, VOiCEup Berks officially transitioned from operating as a fund of Berks County Community Foundation to becoming its own independent 501(c)(3), positioning the organization for continued growth and expanded impact throughout the region.<\/p>\n
Throughout the gala, attendees heard powerful stories from students whose lives have been transformed through service, reinforcing the organization\u2019s belief that leadership begins by trusting young people with meaningful responsibility.<\/p>\n
The evening also recognized individuals whose quiet leadership and unwavering support have helped shape the organization\u2019s first decade. VOiCEup Berks presented its inaugural Unsung Hero Awards to David Patti of Customers Bank, Christopher Pruitt of East Penn Manufacturing, and Carl and Charlene Dragonette, honoring their years of mentorship, generosity, and steadfast commitment to investing in young people.<\/p>\n
The celebration concluded with the presentation of VOiCEup Berks\u2019 highest youth honors.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Heart of YVC Reading Award was presented to Luca Mele, rising senior at Lancaster Country Day School, recognizing his hundreds of hours of service, compassionate leadership, and unwavering commitment to strengthening the community through volunteerism.<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s highest youth honor, the 2026 YVC Reading Youth of the Year Award, was presented to rising Wilson High School senior, Athena Worley, who has contributed more than 1,000 hours of service and inspired countless young people through her exceptional leadership and dedication.<\/p>\n
Looking toward the future, Terefenko shared the organization\u2019s vision of expanding opportunities for young people across Berks County by growing its integrated civic leadership pathway that begins in middle school, deepens through high school, and continues into college and young adulthood.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur work has never been about creating volunteers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about developing young people who understand that their voices matter, that they belong in this community, and that they have the power to shape its future.\u201d<\/p>\n
As VOiCEup Berks enters its second decade, the organization remains committed to ensuring that every young person has the opportunity to discover the confidence, purpose, and leadership that come from serving others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 225 community leaders, supporters, volunteers, students, and partners gathered at the Reading Public Museum on July…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-256055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}