Author: Allison Wu, YSEP Founder This Fall 2020 YSEP member decided to combine his passion for running and his service project by organizing a run-a-thon! The junior's goal was to raise $200, but he surpassed his goal, receiving $569 in donations! This YSEP member was not only successful in his fundraiser, but he ran his promised half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1 hour and 44 minutes! In his final presentation, this YSEP member said he enjoyed raising public awareness about Housing Families Inc. because even if they didn't donate, they are now aware of Housing Families and what they do. Great job to this YSEP member!
0 Comments
Author: Allison Wu, YSEP Founder One of our Fall YSEP member's goal was to find an alternative to the Housing Families' Holiday Boutique. Annually, HFI hosts a holiday party and boutique, where families can choose gifts for the holidays. Unfortunately, this year the party was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and many children at HFI would have gone without holiday presents. With some of the toys left over from the 2019 holiday party and new toys bought this year, this 7th grader was able to create 40 gift bags for all the children in HFI's GREAT Youth & Families Program (GYFP). Each bag was filled with toys suitable for a specific age and gender. This YSEP member did great job with her service project! The children in GYFP were definitely excited to get their new gifts! "In such unprecedented times, I think that all kids should get to experience the joy of the holidays and take a break from the stress around them, not just the ones who can afford it. The pandemic has been especially hard on the homeless, and I think that these bags, although small, overall help to lift one’s mood and spirit. Author: Allison Wu, YSEP Founder Two of our Fall 2020 YSEP members worked together as a team to organize a mask drive! Their original goal was to collect 200 new masks, so families at Housing Families can continue protecting themselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two members created flyers to distribute throughout their community using social media. In the end our YSEP members received 648 masks, tripling their goal! We are so proud of these two and their work to provide masks to HFI! Our favorite part.. "Receiving donations and emails - knowing that people were willing to contribute to our cause" Author: Allison Wu, YSEP Founder Today, we concluded our first session of YSEP! I enjoyed working with all of our students these past Sundays and listening to their ideas. I first started this program with hopes to educate the youth on homelessness and encourage them to be proactive within their communities. I was beyond thrilled with the outcome and excited to see 7 students passionate about learning and combatting homelessness in our Zoom room today. Additionally, I was extremely impressed with each student's service project! Everyone was super successful, despite some challenges posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic! I hope and encourage our members to continue advocating, organizing service projects, and educating others on homelessness!
Some quotes from our Fall 2020 YSEP Members... "A major takeaway I got was that empathy is key. When we look into another's perspective, we can gain understanding and can learn to advocate for a cause. I also learned a lot about managing a service project and to not underestimate ourselves!" - Sophomore "After participating YSEP, I feel like I have a clearer understanding of what homelessness is and how people become homeless. YSEP has changed my perception of homelessness and makes me want to support homeless families more because I want to gain more experience with collecting donations and that there is more to issues that cause homelessness besides just being homeless." - Sophomore A major takeaway... "I think that the fact that homeless people are really just people like you and me, trying their best and just going through a rough time in their life." - 7th Grader "My favorite part of YSEP was learning about homelessness and seeing everyone's ideas for their service project. I was intrigued by the others' ideas and success on their projects!" - Sophomore "One major takeaway from this program was that we should all spread awareness on this situation especially during these times. " - 8th Grader |