Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C. -- In the hopes of avoiding having 40-year-old couch potatoes, parents brought their children to the first teen job fair aboard Marine Corps Air Station New River, April 13.
Businesses and volunteer organizations across the Jacksonville, N.C., area set up booths for teenagers to visit and learn about the opportunities to earn work experience, as well as earn volunteer hours this summer.
Sheila Covington, a Jacksonville resident, brought her son, Gary, to the job fair to learn more about the options available to not only work, but to gain knowledge about volunteering that he could apply toward scholarships for college.
“I just want to get my 18-year-old involved in something,” said Alexia Kurkchi, a parent who brought her three children to the event. “We found out about the event through our squadron, and my daughter learned about her opportunities with the Piney Green Volunteer Fire Department’s youth program.”
Possumwood Acres, a wildlife sanctuary, was one of the organizations at the job fair.
They specialize in the rehabilitation care and treatment of small mammals, songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, shorebirds and reptiles located in Hubert.
The Piney Green VFD also attended the event, looking for enthusiastic young volunteers.
Sarah Carr, the Family Members Employment Advisor on Marine Corps Air Station New River, was the coordinator of the event.
She said she worked hard to get as many entities to attend as possible, calling businesses in the Jacksonville area.
Carr is also promoting the event through the all of the squadrons aboard the air station with family readiness officers.
Carr said she plans on holding this event annually on the air station.
She added that she plans on scheduling the next event in early spring of 2014 to allow for time to help the event grow and secure even more business opportunities for the attendees.
“The event went very well with 14 entities,” said Carr. “We had a great amount of teenagers come to the fair, with the very first 20 receiving a resume writing workbook. The teenagers gained a lot of useful information, and that’s what’s important.”