Youth Developmental Enterprises

Youth Developmental Enterprises was a program that ran from about 1971 to 1993. The primary activity of YDE was taking men and slightly older supervisors to Hawaii to work in the pineapple fields of Lanai and Maui. YDE took around 18,000 young men to Hawaii to accomplish this work; the stated goal of the organization was not pineapple production, but rather building the character of young men.

Almost all of the supervisors were required to be returned LDS missionaries to help accomplish this goal.

Founding of YDE

During the first two years the Pineapple picking program was a joint venture between the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts of America. When the requirement was made to get certified with the Federal Government, both groups decided to hand off the program to a newly created independent corporation. Ross Olsen was the founder and primary leader of the new corporation. Ross called this new corporation Youth Developmental Enterprises.

The symbol for YDE was the boomerang. YDE Ceremonial Plate

YDE Activities

The magazine Boomerang was published by YDE, and contained information about the boys participating in the program, and stories about it.

The program first began working with Dole Pineapple Company on Molokai. When pineapple operations ended there, it went to Lanai with Dole.http://web.archive.org/web/20130218154752/http://www.lanaichc.org:80/Youth%20Development%20Enterprises/youth_development_enterprises_Lanai.html

Maui Land and Pineapple Company hired YDE to bring the youth to work in the pineapple fields. Boys worked on both Lanai and Maui over the course of the program. By 1988 the program had been reduced to one island (Maui) and just a few "gangs" of boys at each of the Napilihau and Hailemaile Plantations working for Maui Land and Pineapple Company.

At some point in time YDE was certified and licensed by the United States Government as a Migrant Farm Labor Contractor.

Although, YDE was heavily marketed through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and the Boy Scouts of America and many of the boys who worked in this program were LDS, all denominations and religious persuasions were welcome to participate in the program. While in Hawaii, the young men were expected to live with conservative standards. Hair was cut and kept short, no local girl friends, and other restrictions were expected including weekly attendance to church (regardless of denomination). Youth signed a contract to this effect before departing, to indicate their understanding of their participation and the expectations ahead for them in Y.D.E. The program also had a school program that was linked to the local high school, Lahainaluna High School. Corresondense courses were also accredited through Salt Lake City's Granite High School. For the majority of the program duration, the High School program was administered by Dr. Lee T. Burnham, Ph.D.

A few of the boys who worked for YDE were sent by court order after getting into trouble, but the vast majority of the boys volunteered. Participation in the program could be for three, six, nine or 11 months.

Through the majority of the years that YDE was in Hawaii, the boys were sent on one week tours of several Hawaiian islands at the conclusion of either a single work tour or between work tours. This incentive gave the youth motivation to do well in their programs and come home with a cultural experience. Ross Olson's vision was for each youth to have experience in culture and travel as well as a work and educational experience.

Pineapple picking and planting were the primary work-related activities, although mulching fields, weeding, planting, driving pineapple trucks, cooking, and other activities were also done. A specified gang from each location was dedicated as Caf-staff and arose earlier than other gangs to keep meals for the entire camp. Night-shifts were needed during heavy picking seasons to get the mature fruit from the fields for MLP. Gangs (work teams from 14 to 20 boys with an adult Luna leader) that were nomintated by camp leadership worked under night-lighted harvester (booms) worked the late swing shifts, returning to camp after the other gangs had already to sleep. Some gangs were also permitted to work at the Maui Canning facility, integrating with local workers. Truck drivers had to be licensed to drive and be 18 years old. They kept separate sleeping and living quarters from the youth and kept most activities separately, with exception of camp meetings and holidays.

Camps held elections under the direction of camp leaders to appoint positions of leadership held by youth. Leaders in each gang were also appointed by peer votes. This created most of the order in the day to day matters in addition to the Lunas, Head-Honcho's etc. In the field the luna's reported to the MLP field supervisors and directors. The camp head leaders reported to YDE and MLP directors. Camps held non-traditional holidays to encourage cultural activity on the weekends. Christmas was held in mid-summer and Halloween in the spring. Parents of youth were encouraged to send gifts for these holidays and to encourage the youth. Phones were opened on the camps, though youth required to use phone cards or coins to reach out to loved ones. Camp leaders could also patch incoming calls for youth to them.

Financial responsibility was encouraged in the program. A limited allotment, around $16.00, was allowed from pay periods to be given as cash to youth depending on the year, contract plan and location. Since the youth financed their own airfare and cost for tours, any amounts owed were deducted from pay until the full amount paid. Income beyond was kept in savings accounts that were released to the youth upon completion. Insurance costs were mostly borne by the parents' plans. MLP carried the standard insurance for any worker, while on work time. Additional moneys send to the youth by parents or others was discouraged, as it often led to acquisition of contraband, bartering, theft, drugs or even prostitution during tours.

Tragedy befell YDE in the summer of 1980 when a young man named Mike Zufelt drowned while swimming near a shipwreck on the far side of Lanai.

Ending of YDE

The program ended when financial difficulties involving the relationship between YDE and Maui Pine helped put YDE out of business. One of the greatest expenses for YDE was air fare to Hawaii from the mainland. Airlines needed to be paid up front to get good volume discount rates, and these payments were made and were non-refundable. The last year of the program, Maui Pine did not renew their five-year contract with YDE, leaving the organization in an untenable cash flow situation, and the Hawaii program terminated.

There were many other factors that made it difficult for YDE to continue in Hawaii. Maui Land and Pine was losing millions per year on their pineapple plantations. YDE was coming under increasing scrutiny and regulation, which made the program considerably more expensive to run. Instead of one supervisor per gang of fifteen, now there had to be two. Society was also quickly becoming more litigious and the liabilities of everyone involved were growing. YDE expected ML&P to pay more and more for its services, while cheaper labor from other countries was becoming more plentiful.

The following year various negotiations were begun to work for the LDS Church Farms in Bradenton, Florida, picking tomatoes and oranges, some independent tomato and squash growers in Beaufort, South Carolina and a tree-planting effort in Mississippi. None of these programs really got off the ground and the entire YDE program ended.