Cypress Street

I joined a group of students from my school on a volunteer project to a low-income neighborhood called Cypress Street on May 1, 2010 to help the people there. When we arrived we learned that our task that day would be weeding and planting new flowers on the main hill that overlooked the community. We were surprised when after we started working many of the families came to join us because they were so appreciative of the work that we were doing for them. They also offered us drinks and snacks, which was so kind of them and we couldn't believe that these people were so happy, simply because we were planting flowers and shrubs in their community. It was a fun event and I couldn’t believe how quickly we had transformed a hill of dirt and weeds into a hill full of beautiful flowers that would grow and brighten the community.

Second Harvest Food Bank

I went to the Second Harvest Food Bank on March 13, 2010 and my task was to attach straws to juice boxes. One might view this job as a useless task; however, this task is very important because these juice boxes would eventually be packed into big boxes of food that are given to families in need of food. We also cleaned the juice boxes to make sure that they didn't stick to anything else in the box or draw bugs to the food. By working together at this task, our group was able to prepare items to be placed in boxes of food for low-income families and these boxes of food would eventually be a gift from heaven for these families who are struggling to survive each day. This project taught me that one person can make a difference by simply taking a few hours out of their day to help other people who need a helping hand. It also taught me that if we take the time and energy to work together with others, it is incredible how amazing the results can be.

Book Doctor

On February 6, 2010 I went to the Book Doctor, which is an organization that collects books from donations and cleans/repairs them. After they have been cleaned and repaired, then the books are sent to hospital and doctor's waiting rooms to give children something to keep their mind busy while they are waiting for long periods of time. Volunteer "readers" will also go to the waiting rooms to read to the children. The books are given to these underprivileged kids to take home and enjoy as well. Through this experience I learned how lucky I am to be able to have brand new books sitting on my shelves and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to learn to read and read whenever I want to. I enjoyed this experience because I love books and this let me help people and work with books, which is the best of both worlds for me.

Orange Lutheran Thrift Store

For my first project I went to the Orange Lutheran Thrift Store on January 13, 2010 to volunteer with organizing donations that the store had received and preparing those donations to be sold. I learned that the thrift store donates 100% of its earnings to fund scholarships for students at Orange Lutheran High School, which helps students enjoy the many blessing that Orange Lutheran has to offer. While we were there we separated donated clothing and hung it up on hangers so it could be taken out to the store to be sold. This experience taught me how important volunteers are at the thrift store because without the volunteers no merchandise would be placed on the racks and no one would be there to run the store. I really enjoyed working at the Orange Lutheran Thrift Store and having my family volunteer with me was tons of fun.

Hello!

I have started this blog to share with the world my experiences that I have gained through a very unique project. I created a program that celebrates a significant birthday in a young woman's life, Sweet 16, in a new and different way. "My Sweet 16 Year of Giving Back" is a project that I created in late 2009. As I looked ahead towards 2010 and my 16th birthday, I wondered what I could do to celebrate this significant occasion in my life. It soon became very clear to me that the focus should not be on myself, but on what I could do for other people and the community around me. I decided to volunteer for 16 different service organizations in 2010 to celebrate my 16th birthday and “My Sweet 16 Year of Giving Back” was created. Through this project I was hoping to establish a better reputation for teenagers, inspire others to volunteer, and learn more about myself while helping my community. Throughout the year, I have been keeping a journal about each of my volunteer activities and I have decided to post them on this blog.