![Michael, our first adoptee](https://images.prismic.io/aosweb/Zs6pIkaF0TcGJct4_michael_adoptee.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max&w=640)
Adopt a Youth Membership Program
The AOS needs more youth within our orchid family. They are energetic, passionate about conservation and will carry the torch long after we have all faded away. We need to invest in our youth and the future existence of the AOS by supporting youth programs, nurturing their eagerness to learn about orchids and ensuring the survival of the natural world of orchids. We can accomplish this by Adopt a Youth, a new program designed to involve deserving youth.
AOS members or an Affiliated Society will have the opportunity to sponsor, mentor and nurture a young person (15-25 years old) by purchasing a membership of any type for your adoptee. I am sure that most of you know someone that has a keen interest in orchids and is deserving of a membership in the AOS. It can be a friend, relative, a student in a botanical or horticultural program, maybe someone in your local orchid society that is of high school to university age range.
As the Sponsor you will have the opportunity to mentor your Adoptee and have the gratification of witnessing their eagerness to learn and envision their potential in future AOS endeavors. The goal is to introduce these young people to our orchid community and the three pillars of the AOS, Education, Conservation and Research, with the anticipation that they will contribute to the AOS at some point in their future.
The image to the left is Michael, our first adoptee.