A youth group that volunteers throughout Lake County to improve communities and the lives of young people is now looking for help.

The Lake County Youth Conservation Corps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to volunteering and providing more school and career opportunities people ages 16 to 24, is in need of new sponsorship for its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

The Corp Network, a national conservation and service organization, sponsored the event the last four years,

but can't afford to do so again in 2010 due to budget constraints.

"I don't know what we are going to do if the sponsorship isn't there," YCC Community Outreach Coordinator Barbara Poole said.

The cost to sponsor the event is $2,500, Poole said. The money pays for mostly volunteer food and transportation for the group's 20 volunteer projects scheduled throughout the county that day.

There are 16 members of the Youth Conservation Corp, but hundreds of volunteers are expected to come out for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Jan. 18, the largest event the YCC hosts.

The goal is to get people of all ages out volunteering on a day when they are usually off school or work, Poole said.

"It's a great service day," she said. "Last year, we got 250 volunteers out. We are trying to get things moving this year."

In past years, volunteers have worked at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, V.A. Medical Center, Staben House, Waukegan Public Library and the YMCA.

This year, PADS will be involved, and the Miguel Juarez School in Waukegan will paint a mural for the event, Poole said.

Information about becoming a sponsor or a volunteer has been sent throughout Waukegan, where the Youth Conservation Corp's office is located, but there hasn't been any sponsorship interest so far.

"We are looking for no one in particular," Poole said. "Whoever responds is fine by us."