Purpose
The Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) for the State of Missouri is designed to broaden and strengthen
opportunities for positive development and participation in community life for youth, and to discourage such persons from engaging in criminal and violent behavior.
It is the goal of YOP to get local, neighborhood, and community businesses in the State of Missouri involved in helping to find solutions to problems concerning youth in their own communities.
Requirements
Tax credits will be approved by YOP for qualifying Missouri tax payers that make property, monetary, or stock contributions to projects or pay wages to youth. The allowable tax credits for contributions are 30% for property contributions (real or personal), and 50% for monetary contributions. A donor has twelve months from the date of contribution (date on check) to submit the tax credit application. Turnaround time for processing the tax credit application is approximately two weeks depending on the volume received from December 1st – April 15th.
Reminder
You will receive a tax credit application from Whole Kids Outreach with your receipt letter for your gracious donation. As always, please contact your tax advisor in regards to deductibility and eligibility for state and federal tax purposes.
It is our goal to welcome new and returning volunteers and offer a unique learning and social experience to each individual.
This program provides an opportunity for volunteers to participate in “mission” as opposed to an assortment of fragmented odd jobs.
Volunteers are recruited from schools, established youth groups, and through the many relationships WKO has forged with families, businesses and agencies throughout the country.
The length of any given volunteer experience varies from an hour to a whole week. Volunteers are welcomed onto the WKO property throughout the year for a variety of activities. Each volunteer participates in a thorough orientation that acclimates him/her to the expectations of the assigned tasks and connects their service project with the overall mission of WKO, along with God’s global mission for our world.
The volunteer experiences are closely monitored by the Volunteer Coordinator to ensure that the needs of the volunteers are met, questions are answered, and that at all times the best interests and most immediate needs of the target population are being met by the volunteer activities.
Volunteers who participate in extended projects (more than one day) have the chance to be involved in a variety of dynamic projects: service activities with the WKO grounds and maintenance team, recreational activities with children of all ages, community outreach activities for WKO clientele who need help with home improvements to improve the safety of their living environments. This diversity of opportunity deepens their experience of our mission as well as enhances cultural sensitivity to those in a rural environment. The Volunteer Coordinator and WKO staff closely partner to provide ongoing support to ensure the volunteers develop their understanding of mission; are comfortable with the activities to which they are assigned; and are sensitive to the experience they may be sharing with other volunteers.
Volunteering at WKO demands an extraordinary amount of patience and flexibility. Volunteers are often challenged in ways (physical, mental, emotional) that they do not anticipate. To this end, the Volunteer Coordinator intentionally arranges a closing ceremony to ritualize the integration of the experience into the volunteers’ lives. This has been essential in assuring that volunteers have the opportunity to process their emotions and reactions to their experience, that the impact of the program is captured in an post-survey, and, most importantly, that volunteers receive due recognition and understand our appreciation for their contribution.
For information on how you can volunteer or set up a volunteer experience for you service group, contact WKO’s Volunteer Coordinator
