Valley Parents: Hanover Youth-In-Action volunteers remove invasive species, prepare meals during COVID-19 pandemic

HANOVER — On Earth Day, students from Hanover Youth-In-Action took to the steep hillside behind the offices of the Upper Valley Land Trust to eradicate the invasive garlic mustard plant.

The students and UVLT employees weeded out the strong smelling plant before it began seeding and spreading from the land trust property abutting the Mink Brook Preserve in Hanover.

UVLT Land Steward Kaytee Currie-Huggard said it is one of the first volunteer partnerships that they were able to do this year now that the Upper Valley is starting to see the sprouts of spring — and there were lots of the heart-shaped, scalloped-edged garlic mustard clusters.

“This isn’t the most ideal task for any individual, so that they would be willing to come out and give us a hand today, is pretty great,” Currie-Huggard said. “As a land trust we want to take really great care of all the land in the Upper Valley, and we’re at our own house, our offices, and look out and it’s like ‘holy cow all these invasive species on our property.’”

Though the students of Hanover Youth-In-Action do all different kinds of community service, Hanover High junior Skylar Tompkins said she was excited to be outdoors partnering with UVLT again. Last year, students helped remove buckthorn.

“A lot of the time community service is about people in the community, but there are other parts of the community, like the land is also part of our community,” Tompkins said. “I think it’s important to take care of other aspects of the community besides just the people.”

In its 38th year as an organization, Hanover Youth-In-Action responds to community needs and takes on volunteer opportunities based on students’ interests. Between Director Beth Kopp and the student Leadership Committee, they determine what projects they want to undertake. Both Tompkins and Hanover High senior Rain Liu are on the Leadership Committee.

In her four years as a member, Liu said Youth-In-Action volunteers have done a lot of cooking events — her favorite kind of event — from the annual pancake breakfast and making food for the Norwich Turkey Trot. This year, they’ve prepared meals for organizations like the Upper Valley Haven or David’s House. Student volunteers cook at home due to the COVID0-19 pandemic and deliver the food elsewhere. There is still need in the community around food security.

Also pre-pandemic, Liu dabbled in face painting at events including the Norwich Farm Festival and the Harry Potter Fan Festival in White River Junction.

“I really like interacting with people, so I’ve enjoyed doing a lot of face painting when we can,” Liu said.

One of the early initiatives of Hanover Youth-In-Action during the onset of the pandemic was weekly video calling with residents at Kendal at Hanover. Drawing from that experience, Kopp introduced Tompkins to Jodi Austin, a resident at Summer Park across from Hanover High School. The two hit it off and have continued to video chat with each other a few times a month.

“It’s amazing,” Tompkins said of her friendship with Austin. “I’ve never had an older person who I could talk to like that. I talk to this person about my life and she talks to me about her life; we’re basically strangers, but we’ve created this bond.

“She’s not like involved in your life, so she can still give you advice and relate to you, but she’s also someone to tell when something exciting happens.”

Though members of Hanover Youth-In-Action have had to shift how they volunteer, their work remains centered on action within the community, whether it is cooking or video chatting from home, or removing invasive plants on Earth Day.

“It’s good to get your hands dirty on Earth Day,” Kopp said.