More than 400 families came together in Madison on Sunday for the first annual Youth Day of Service. The event brought children, teens and parents together for a day focused on giving back to the community.

The nonprofit The Grove Project organized the event that featured hands-on volunteer activities at four locations throughout the borough, all aimed at encouraging civic engagement among young people.

“It’s so nice that no matter what age, you can engage in service and make it meaningful,” said Alina George, a sophomore at Madison High School.

Attendees participated in a range of service projects, including assembling care kits for service animals, packing essential goods for homeless people, organizing nonperishable food items to address food insecurity and creating grief support kits.

Organizers said the goal is to introduce service at an early age and make it accessible and impactful.

“Part of our mission is to take the gift of service and make it tangible for kids so that that seed of feeling good about giving back to others is planted at a young age,” said Katie Hearn, co-founder of The Grove Project. “They can take this and maybe choose to do more service later on in life.”

All items prepared during the event will be distributed to organizations and individuals in need across New Jersey.

“It makes me proud of what we’ve created, but mostly it makes me proud of our community,” Hearn said. “We have a community that wants to give back, that wants to be connected to each other and wants to help those in need.”