In Tampa Bay Online Michelle Bearden interviews Trisha Irons from Tampa Bay, Florida who shares her experiences during the Baha'i Fast from March 2-20.

A few raindrops of hope. That's all it took, says Cynthia Davis, to water the tender plants in a junior youth group she animated last year. "They didn't need a downpour," says the Mountain View, California, Baha’i. Through their time together and the example of adults a realization grew within these young people, she reflects.

What’s the first step in becoming a good steward of God’s creation? For a number of young people at Bosch and Louhelen Baha’i Schools in October, it was experiencing the outdoors firsthand, studying Baha’i writings on preserving nature, and exploring how spiritually conscious action can help build a more just world.

At an age when burgeoning intellectual, spiritual and physical powers become accessible to them, they are being given the tools needed to combat the forces that would rob them of their true identity as noble beings and to work for the common good. — Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2010

They persevered, endured disappointment and bad weather, and patiently built bonds of trust. And by the end of a four-day intensive junior youth session in December 2010 at the Native American Baha’i Institute, several junior youths and three animators came away with hard-won insights into what service is all about.

Sina Sabet tallies the hours in a week junior youths are exposed to negative influences. At school. On TV, Internet and radio. In the streets. In some dysfunctional homes. It all adds up. Where's the balance?

Amir Haghiri wanted to serve by starting a junior youth group. Turns out the group's very existence has been a service to its Dallas, Texas, neighborhood. To the young people in it as well, including his brother. And to Haghiri.

During the past Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, when the local newspaper became filled with stories of people losing their jobs and homes, particularly at a time when prices for essentials such as food and clothing continue to climb, the Food Bank came to the mind of Deb Rodgers, a Baha’i in Casa Grande, Ariz.

The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each. The months are named after the attributes of God. Each Baha’i community holds a Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each Baha’i month.

The Baha’i year consists of 19 months of 19 days each. The months are named after the attributes of God. Each Baha’i community holds a Nineteen Day Feast on the first day of each Baha’i month.