I am honored to share this letter of support and encouragement from the building principal at the Grant D. Morse Elementary School in Saugerties, New York.
Thank you, Don! I look forward to working with your students and faculty again this fall!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Birth of a Fund Raising Plan
Recognizing the importance of clean, safe drinking water, the Guatemalan Action Project students set their sights on raising money to provide eco-water filters to families in need, and support vital research to save the primary water source of the region, Lake Atitlán. Within the first couple of weeks of meeting, the Wallkill students set an ambitious fund raising goal at $1,000.00, and put together a fund raising plan that included several activities:
(a) A community-wide soda bottle & can return to help clean up their community and raise funds for Amigos. Even though this was a complicated project, the students collected a total of $143.85! It provided approximately 23.5% of all donations collected, and was also successful in raising community awareness & building community support amongst Wallkill faculty and the Wallkill Elementary School populations. The refundable soda bottle and can drive even rippled out to another Ulster County school district who participated by donating approximately $70 worth of refundable empty soda cans and water bottles! Bags & bags of soda bottles and cans came in to the elementary school locations.
Students worked very hard to promote this effort and designed a number of promotional flyers which were distributed through the three elementary school buildings, as well as through the middle school and community locations like the Wallkill Public Library. Thank you, Mary Lou Carolan, for lending your support and offering the library as a community collection site!
(b) Bake Sale – Special thanks to the students and their parents for baking treats which were sold at our bake sale during the “Guatemala Night” program in the Wallkill Middle School library.
(c) Guatemalan Photography Exhibit & Raffle - I was honored to donate a beautiful Guatemalan photo (matted & framed), along with several photo greeting card sets which were offered as raffle prizes for our “Guatemala Night” program. In addition, I set up a small exhibit of my Guatemalan photography and donated 50% of all proceeds back to the project. The photography was enjoyed by all and I thank all who supported the raffle, which raised $200.00. Photography sales provided an additional $75.00 towards our goal.
(a) A community-wide soda bottle & can return to help clean up their community and raise funds for Amigos. Even though this was a complicated project, the students collected a total of $143.85! It provided approximately 23.5% of all donations collected, and was also successful in raising community awareness & building community support amongst Wallkill faculty and the Wallkill Elementary School populations. The refundable soda bottle and can drive even rippled out to another Ulster County school district who participated by donating approximately $70 worth of refundable empty soda cans and water bottles! Bags & bags of soda bottles and cans came in to the elementary school locations.
Students worked very hard to promote this effort and designed a number of promotional flyers which were distributed through the three elementary school buildings, as well as through the middle school and community locations like the Wallkill Public Library. Thank you, Mary Lou Carolan, for lending your support and offering the library as a community collection site!
(b) Bake Sale – Special thanks to the students and their parents for baking treats which were sold at our bake sale during the “Guatemala Night” program in the Wallkill Middle School library.
(c) Guatemalan Photography Exhibit & Raffle - I was honored to donate a beautiful Guatemalan photo (matted & framed), along with several photo greeting card sets which were offered as raffle prizes for our “Guatemala Night” program. In addition, I set up a small exhibit of my Guatemalan photography and donated 50% of all proceeds back to the project. The photography was enjoyed by all and I thank all who supported the raffle, which raised $200.00. Photography sales provided an additional $75.00 towards our goal.
Students speak with Pat Torpie, Executive Director of Amigos de Santa Cruz, via Skype
Wallkill Middle School students prepared questions for a Skype conference call with Pat Torpie in Guatemala. The students gave their questions great thought and worked together to select the questions they believed were most relevant and would help them gain a better understanding of the issues facing the children and families of Santa Cruz la Laguna. Together we spent approximately 40 minutes talking with Pat Torpie about the issues and some personal questions related to service and her experience with helping the children of Santa Cruz la Laguna. This was an exciting afternoon for all involved and one of the most popular highlights of the program! Click here to see the “Calling Guatemala…” slide show.
"Guatemala Night" Comes to Wallkill
“Guatemala Night” was a very exciting community education program held on Thursday, May 6th, at the Wallkill Middle School library. The students coordinated a student Power Point presentation and panel discussion on Santa Cruz la Laguna, and a bake sale. In addition, i offered extra support by sharing a selection Guatemalan folktales, and a Guatemalan photography exhibit.
A great time was had by all… especially a group of young boys, who can be seen playing some of my percussion instruments during intermission. Click here to see a few photos from "Guatemala Night."
A sweet story to be shared…
In addition to the family friends and faculty present, there was a young Wallkill student who was adopted from Guatemala in the audience. This young man was so moved by the slides, stories and discussion, that upon leaving the program, he turned to his mother and told her that he wanted to sell his X-Box and video games so he could donate the money to help children in his home country! His mother contacted me the next day to share this and express her gratitude for teaching her young son how little others have and helping him appreciate the abundance of his life here. This sentiment was expressed by many, if not all of the participating students of the Guatemalan Action Project. They completed this program knowing they want to do more and feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of others!
A great time was had by all… especially a group of young boys, who can be seen playing some of my percussion instruments during intermission. Click here to see a few photos from "Guatemala Night."
A sweet story to be shared…
In addition to the family friends and faculty present, there was a young Wallkill student who was adopted from Guatemala in the audience. This young man was so moved by the slides, stories and discussion, that upon leaving the program, he turned to his mother and told her that he wanted to sell his X-Box and video games so he could donate the money to help children in his home country! His mother contacted me the next day to share this and express her gratitude for teaching her young son how little others have and helping him appreciate the abundance of his life here. This sentiment was expressed by many, if not all of the participating students of the Guatemalan Action Project. They completed this program knowing they want to do more and feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of others!
Great Success
The Wallkill students raised a total of $625.00 to help children and families in Guatemala. The group purchased 7 eco-water filters and contributed the remaining $275.00 to the “Save Lake Atitlan” fund, which will be used to hire a researcher and work to find community solutions to save the lake from a devastating bacterial problem. Please click the link below to see the “Faces of Gratitude” pictures recently taken in, Jaibalito, a small and remote mountain village that is part of Santa Cruz la Laguna. When these families received their eco-water filters, they were extremely grateful for they recently lost their homes in the first hurricane of the season – Hurricane Agatha.
I am extremely proud of these young people and all of their hard work!
Together with the fund raising efforts of a similar program with the Morse Elementary School in Saugerties, New York, the community of Santa Cruz la Laguna received 20+ eco-water filters which will provide families and children with safe, clean drinking water for 2 years! In addition to the filters, students provided money to purchase school supplies and support the “Save Lake Atitlan” fund. The entire school community at the Morse Elementary School came together and created four fundraisers, including: a “Guitar hero” tournament, raffle, obstacle course, and rummage sale which raised over $825.00.
Be sure to check out these fun pix from the "Guitar Hero tournament".
I am extremely proud of these young people and all of their hard work!
Together with the fund raising efforts of a similar program with the Morse Elementary School in Saugerties, New York, the community of Santa Cruz la Laguna received 20+ eco-water filters which will provide families and children with safe, clean drinking water for 2 years! In addition to the filters, students provided money to purchase school supplies and support the “Save Lake Atitlan” fund. The entire school community at the Morse Elementary School came together and created four fundraisers, including: a “Guitar hero” tournament, raffle, obstacle course, and rummage sale which raised over $825.00.
Be sure to check out these fun pix from the "Guitar Hero tournament".
A Look to the Future
Children and teenagers want to make a difference in the world. If we give them the opportunity and necessary support, they can make a difference in the world around them. At a time when studies show that compassion for others is decreasing and American children recently ranked second in the world for unhappiness, we need more programs such as this one.
The enthusiasm and satisfaction these students felt was palpable! See for yourself. Look at these happy faces. They want to do more… It is my goal and dream to provide more opportunities to do just that!
Stay tuned…
If you would like to bring this experience to your school, youth organization or church/faith organization, please contact me at: wizdomworks1967@yahoo.com.
The enthusiasm and satisfaction these students felt was palpable! See for yourself. Look at these happy faces. They want to do more… It is my goal and dream to provide more opportunities to do just that!
Stay tuned…
If you would like to bring this experience to your school, youth organization or church/faith organization, please contact me at: wizdomworks1967@yahoo.com.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Program Overview
All of the 7th grade students in the John G. Borden Middle School received a forty-minute presentation about Guatemala. Photos of various Guatemalan communities (cities, villages, markets, and ancient Mayan cities), as well as: plant and animal life, textiles, traditional clothing, volcanoes, etc. were used to teach students about the beauty and need within this incredible country.
Students were invited to complete a student application if they were interested in participating in a special after-school program, the Guatemalan Action Project, which would involve working with me once a week, after school, for ten weeks. The goal of the program is for the students to develop, organize and implement a community fund-raiser to benefit a specific needy community in Guatemala. Over 40 applications were received for the 17 slots available! (A wait list has been created with the additional applications should a student have to withdraw from the project.)
By participating in this program, students will learn and enhance their skill levels within the areas of public speaking, marketing, organizing and planning, community outreach, problem solving, and time management. In addition, students will experience a sense of pride and accomplishment, as well as deep personal satisfaction in knowing they made a difference in the lives of children and families living with severely limited resources.
Students were invited to complete a student application if they were interested in participating in a special after-school program, the Guatemalan Action Project, which would involve working with me once a week, after school, for ten weeks. The goal of the program is for the students to develop, organize and implement a community fund-raiser to benefit a specific needy community in Guatemala. Over 40 applications were received for the 17 slots available! (A wait list has been created with the additional applications should a student have to withdraw from the project.)
By participating in this program, students will learn and enhance their skill levels within the areas of public speaking, marketing, organizing and planning, community outreach, problem solving, and time management. In addition, students will experience a sense of pride and accomplishment, as well as deep personal satisfaction in knowing they made a difference in the lives of children and families living with severely limited resources.
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