To the Editor:

Serving is a privilege. You could ask any one of the 80 teens and young adults who attend Encounter, a group that gathers every Friday night at Redeemer Church, at 183 Schoolhouse Rd. in Guilderland, and they would agree.

Encounter is filled with devoted and hardworking young people who truly care about what is happening in their community. While many of Encounter’s attendees are college students who call the Capital Region home for only about nine months a year, they are still invested in the wellbeing of the people here. That is why an opportunity was created for them to be more involved.

Encounter Serves is a spring-break alternative that allows students to serve organizations in the Albany area each day of spring break. Encounter Serves is a far cry from the “traditional” spring break trip to Cancun or Panama City.

In an age where millennials are supposedly lazy and entitled, Encounter Serves is breaking the stigma of millennials as only consumers, and shining a light on the ability to make a difference in the community you are in.

We do not have to go to a developing country to create change, but instead there is so much opportunity in Albany that a week of volunteer events, like going down to Pearl Street and helping serve food and getting to know the people at the Capital City Rescue Mission, a not-for-profit for the homeless, does not even scratch the surface.

Encounter Serves is engaging students and taking up the opportunity to serve the city that has welcomed us and allowed us to call Albany home.

Sarah Irish and Rachel Kennedy

Albany