South Poverty: The Social Norm

As surprising as it may sound, I have been doing community service since the sixth grade and it is a new experience each time. It all began with a community clean up known as 'Keep McAllen Beautiful' as we got there everyone seemed excited to be there. It was beautiful to see such unity inside of my community, and I decided from then on that I would like continue helping out where it is needed. As I joined the National Honor Society my chances of providing my services increased, and I decided that I would assume a position of leadership when needed. I became the society's president, which allowed me to develop my time management skills, creativity, and efficiency. I organized an fundraiser for the hurricane Harvey disaster victims where all

While volunteering at Discovery Challenger I have exclusively worked with a blind man named Geno. My service to the Discovery Challenger Program has positively affected the community in that the athletes that required a helper were able to have me as one despite the limited number of volunteers who helped the athletes. Another community service I committed myself to while in high school was the club Life is Delicious. Life is Delicious is a club that between two and three times Year members of the club cook a warm meal at the high school, and then some go to the St. Vincent DePaul Homeless Shelter in Waterbury. At the end of my sophomore year I was named Co-President of the club. As a member of the club I went to all of the cooking and serving activities and was able to help the homeless of Waterbury by giving them a warm meal. The most impactful service I performed in my opinion was during my junior year when I was the organizer for the Penguin Plunge. During my junior year I thought that it would be a good idea for the basketball team to do the Penguin Plunge in order to raise money for Special Olympics Connecticut as I had done so in the previous two years. So, I approached the athletic director

As an African-American male of Nigerian descent growing up in the United States, my parents constantly talked about my heritage and invariably enforced it on me throughout my 17 years in this world. As an adolescent I often see my parents on the phone with my relatives in Nigeria discussing their daily struggles, lack of food, little or no electricity and the withering health of the old and the young due to lack of medication and treatment. This prompts my parents to constantly send money to their loved ones. This sparked my awareness of the problems that Nigerian community and the rest of the third world countries are going through. How my parents voluntarily support their relatives has made me to participate in more volunteer activities in my Maryland Community. I have joined the National English Honor Society at my school and I participated in a home makeover program with “My Girlfriend’s House” Community Program to help the less fortunate by providing them with food and new living utensils. The many charitable acts I have done resulted from my cultural background and I plan to continue doing this during and after college.

In fifth and sixth grade, I was invited to attend The National Young Leadership Forum, an organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a week in Washington D.C., where I learned the qualifications of a righteous leader and to develop academic abilities and interests. I will bring my knowledge of leadership to sustain a school community in which students will strive to maintain integrity and trust with each other. By engaging in community service, I have an opportunity to learn experientially, expose myself to diversity, and develop a sense of responsibility. By volunteering in multiple ways in the last several years, I was able to knit hats for children in hospitals, help at a local food bank, create and donate bookmarks for third graders, and help at the Bellaire Public Library. Helping others has given me a great sense of satisfaction and I plan to continue working on various community service projects in the future. Born and raised to Israeli parents, I am benefited with bilinguality, traveling overseas, exposure to other cultures, and insight on global

A volunteering experience that holds a lot of meaning to me was being able to participate in a FCCLA Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Event called Advocacy. As part of my class assignment, my partner and I first had to research a need in our community, state, or throughout our nation and then “advocate it”, or make it know, as well as find a solution. Our research quickly showed that Texas was ranked fourth in the nation for the number of children living in poverty and our own county was ranked 116th out of 264 counties in Texas for the number of children living in conditions below the Federal Poverty Level. This project went from being a class assignment, to a volunteer experience that positively influenced and changed my life in so many ways.

In my local HOSA chapter I help notify members of volunteering events by suggesting activities.This eagerness to volunteer also propelled me towards leading my peers to also engage in service activities.

Throughout my four years of high school, I worked with a non-profit organization called Shirts Across America. It worked to send high school and college students to New Orleans, Louisiana to help the community rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. For my junior and senior year, I worked as a core team member; my duties included marketing, fundraising, planning and organizing the trip and facilitating a group on the actual trip. I took on the responsibility to bring more people of color on the trips and making it more accessible for these students who may have been looked over. This past summer I worked as a teacher’s aid for the local YMCA in Seattle. The school that I was working with served a low income, diverse community.

To residents of the suburbs, all economically distressed districts of the city may seem dangerous and threatening, however, to residents of these poor districts, it is just home. The local residents know the truly crime-ridden areas of each district. This essay will refer to these crime-ridden areas within poor communities as "hot spots" or "skid-row". Skid-row is generally an area of the economically distressed community that is plagued with vagrants, criminals, drug abusers and other individuals thought to be of exile from normal society (Bittner, 1967). This is an area where law abiding, poor citizens do not wish to venture (Bittner, 1967). Due to this stigma, skid-row is an area that is patrolled by police, who generally

Being involved in the community is an important need that goes unnoticed. It makes is unaware and detached from the issues and problems that resides in our neighborhood. However, Monica Garcia you have proven that if we invest or skills, our teachings, our time, and our efforts we can see a mighty difference. Because of your hard work, dedication, and persistence if gives me great honor to present this Service Learning award to you. You said “If your dreams do not scare you then they are not big enough.” Thank you Monica Garcia for your

Los Angeles is a city where many important and famous people live. Most people think that most of the population living in Los Angeles is rich because of famous places such as Rodeo Drive and Hollywood where most American movies are produced. The United States has a strong economy, is very safe, and solves a lot of big problems outside the border. United States has a lot of organizations, associations and charities for human rights; however, a big city like Los Angeles has a dark side, it has the highest percentage of homeless people, drug addicts and alcoholics in the United States. Almost all of these people live in one neighborhood, which is called Skid Row. It is located in the southern part of Los Angeles. It started as a home for

High school students are the leaders and problem solvers of the future. We students need to understand community issues so that we can resolve them and provide help where it is needed. High school students also offer new and unique ideas that adults would never consider. Every successful community has opinions and inputs from all members of the community, not just the older adults. By high school students having knowledge of community issues, the students can impact and influence issues that affect less represented minorities. I can play a role in making a difference by serving my community. I can volunteer my time and effort to better the lives of people needing help. I can raise awareness of issues that typically get skipped over by voicing my opinion. I can work to lead groups and organizations that help and serve people in need in my local community. Also, through the help of the T4T board, I could give money and support to people already in the community performing acts of kindness and compassion. I can make a difference in the community by having and raising awareness to issues in the community that are often ignored and rejected. This help could change somebody’s life forever and that is what inspires me.I know I can make a difference in the community and the T4T board can help me serve and benefit my local

During the last 2 years of high school I became increasingly involved in my school and community. The most notable extracurricular activity I did was be president of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) charter at Cesar Chavez high school. Based on its main principle “scholarship for service” I coordinated or contacted volunteer events for my members and other students in the school to be involved in. There were many members, including myself, who would go to those events to serve the community. For that club I was able to present a total of 18 volunteer events that we could help, along with some school events. Other than CSF I was in National Honors Society, Key Club, Interact, MEChA, and Friday Night Live, all of which are service

Two years ago I began volunteering at a summer CCD program called Radiant Joy. I didn’t expect much going into it, and I had only volunteered on a whim. My expectations going in were low and I wasn’t expecting the experience to be stellar. Looking back on it today, volunteering there was the best thing I’ve done the past four years. My time spent there has shaped me into who I am today and changed how I think about myself, others, and the world.

My parents always taught us about the value of service and benefit of being contributing members of community organizations. This is why a big majority of my adolescent and teenage weekend hours was spent serving the community in different capabilities. This is also why as a new college student at the California State University Northridge, after I notice the absence of an organization for follow Africans, I began the push for an organization to be founded on the campus that would unite the African population and bring about the type of community my parents fostered in me. By junior year with the help of advisors and other students the African Student Organization (ASO) was officially founded with me as the founding President. The organization provided a platform for students to talk about the differnet challenges that we face as Immigrants, as well as the difficulties that our families and friends are facing back home. With the dedication to contribute to the continent of Africa ASO began working with Lifewater, a non-profit that build water wells in many parts of the world. During my 2 year tenure as ASO president, ASO raised funds that were used to build wells in villages in Ethiopia and

Throughout my high school career I have enjoyed exploring numerous different ways to volunteer in the community. My first reason for even beginning to volunteer, was in order to get service hours needed for college applications and awards. Despite my original intentions, I have grown to realize it is about the people who are being affected by my actions and not about the amount of hours I put into giving back.