Are you kidding me?

This Saturday I visited my Aunt Renee in Newark. She has been on welfare for 13 years. Since being on Welfare doesn't just "hand you free money," you have to volunteer for community service. The Salvation Army is an organization that provides help to all people who are going through financial crisis'. This is where she volunteers the most.  People come from all over the TriCity area for this help. The Salvation Army provides items from food to clothing up to gifts for major holidays.  My aunt was in charge of keeping inventory. Any new items that were donated recently had to be put on a list and put in a stock room.  I had to hang up clothes, some that smelled really disgusting.  I probably hung up around 200 clothes by myself.  Around half of them had stains on parts where there really shouldn't be stains.  I was really uncomfortable with doing this task.  I didn't feel like the people donating the items were really donating them because they felt like they were doing a good deed.  I felt like they were just trying to clean up around their house or something.  All the stuff donated was really worn out.  If I were to donate things to the Salvation Army, I would at least make sure that the clothes were in better condition than how I saw them.  The people volunteering with me were really appreciative for all the things donated.  There weren't many people that came in to look for clothes or toys but they were looking for food for their family.  The Salvation Army had bags full of fresh produce, bread, canned goods, and juices.  Around 5 groups of people came in while I was volunteering.  About 2 groups of people had children with them.  The children actually passed up the toys we had on display.  I was shocked, but the toys were in poor condition.  I just wish that people would donate better looking toys.  
After I was finished hanging up clothes, my aunt had me clean tables.  I was kind of upset about it because I thought I was going to be continuously doing something that can help someone except cleaning stupid tables.  The tables weren't even dirty! My aunt told me that during the summer, they throw events to try to get people to donate to the organization.  One event was Bingo.  It sounded like it was a lot of fun.  Hopefully when this event happens I'll be there to either play or help advertise the game.  I'm kind of excited to volunteer again but I'm also hesitant because I really do not want to be stuck cleaning already clean tables.  


The social issue is important because there are millions of people in the US alone that are having a hard time financially and they depend on organizations like this to support their family and themselves.  Organizations like this are everywhere.  People appreciate all the help they can get when they're going through rough times.  Help with food and clothing can really save a few bucks in their pocket and with that money, they can be able to pay off bills and maybe save up for some luxury items for their whole family to enjoy.  

Back to Cabrillo

In our first volunteer place me and Steve Gonzalez and Daniella Ayala went to volunteer at Cabrillo Elemantary School. In our first day we went to the office and asked them if we would volunteer in the school. The guy told us that there was alot of people voluntering already and it was too full. Me and Steve didnt know where else to go because we needed to volunteer somewhere already as soon as possible. Then we saw daniella talking to the principle and the principle told us that we can volunteer the next day at 3:30 in room 28.

We came back the next day and we had to sign in the office before we go and volunteer in room 28. We went to the room and we told the teachers that we came to volunteer. They told us to sign in againg, so we did and one of the teachers told me that i can start of by reeding a book to two kids and help them read a book about bread. I was helping a kid named Oscar and a girl named Maria.

The little kid had trouble reading in English i was helping the little boy oscar read, he had trouble reading in english. The girl Maria had a little bit of trouble too. Then i noticed that the class was a ELD class, it reminded of me when i was in ELD. It was time to leave so we sign out and the kid asked me if i was going to come back againg i told him that i was. i felt good helping the little kids read.

Cans For Show!

Cans For Show!

As the 9th annual car show at Washington High School was starting, the program was all about collecting cans so we could donate it to tri-city homeless shelter. We were getting short on collecting cans and the date was almost due. We were in a situation of buying cans with our own pockets because there was so much less donations. I decided to go around my neighbourhood with a flyer asking for people to donate cans, as I explained my cause to them. I got lucky enough to get cans from almost every house I went to. At, the end of the day I collected 32 cans subtracting the expired one's. Who gives expired cans of food?

              Me and few other students had collected cans good enough for the shelter, and it was a new experience to me because I had never done anything like this. This helps to reach for equity because now people who aren't able to feed themselves or their families, people who has to stand out on the streets on pouring rain or sunlight to collect money to feed themselves now have food just like us. They might be suffering from some disease or have bad records so people won't hire them to work, so their is no source of income. This event helps them get food and not let them sleep with an empty stomach.



Respect Your Elders

Just like teens, elders like to go out and have fun. Even with a health condition, they like to go out and socialize with there peers. I went to Bingo night to help set up and escort the elderly to their seat. They were just like us, talking about how they'll win against there friends. Talk some smack, but who doesn't do that? I thought it was so cute that they were having the time of their lives just being able to play bingo, or even be out of their home. I helped clean up after them, or serve them food or drinks if they needed some. It was pretty fun, and you learn a lot from them. This one lady started dancing when one of her favorite songs went on, it was that one song by James Brown..I believe it was I feel good? I'm not sure if that's the name of the song, but she was explaining how they got down. Also  that she feels that today our type of  "dancing" is just too much for her eyes to see. If her parents saw her doing that she'd definitely be locked up till she was 80. Which we had a good laugh about, and I felt like it takes a lot for someone that old to open up to me since most elderly today don't like talking to  what she calls "selfish" children.

 People nowadays don't realize what the elderly had to go through growing up. Its not like our generation where we have all of the new technology to entertain us. They valued their family more than we do today because we're so caught up with these new gadgets. I think us kids now have much more freedom and say in things than they did. People were drafted into war, they didn't have a choice, but life or death. Now we can choose whether we  want to enlist or not. Honestly, feel like the only reason the elderly are mostly bitter is because the youth are so rude to them and don't even pay attention to what they've gone through and sacrificed.

The social issue in this is that some of the elderly who live in care homes today get abused because people don't have the patience and the care that all people need. Just because they aren't able to do things for themselves. Doesn't mean we should treat them like they're not human. What if that was your grandparent and someone would treat them poorly and not help them with their needs? I don't think you'll like the way they would be treated. So, treat them like they're your own. I would definitely love to volunteer and help out again to these wonderful elderly people.

Back to Elementary !

To volunteer I decided to go back to Cabrillo my old school that I use go to, with Daniela and Andy. We had to talk to the principle to see where we were going to volunteeer at. Their is many programs after school for the little kids. When I use to go there, not much help was provided by the school since it was unwealthy. I was glad to see that the school is now doing way better and their is a lot of help to those who need it. The principle was telling us that their was already alot of students volunteering at the school. We didn't want to volunteer anywhere else so we kept trying. Mr.Hudson decided to put us in a room with 3 teachers, but we were going to replace their spot so she can grant us our volunteer hours. She told us when to begin the next day, and explained that she was going to give us a orientation before we start.

As the next day came, we were at the school. Me and Andy were suppose to meet up with Daniela but we couldn't find her. We signed into the office, and went straight to the room to start our volunteering. We were introduced to the teachers and the students. First I thought all the kids were looking at us like creatures, but I sat down with a group of kids that I was going to be working with. After 2 minutes all the kids I was working with started to goof around and they were constantly asking for my help. Finaly Daniela shows up with the principle, and tells us that we missed the orientation but since we are guys she said it was alright. The kids were working on packets, that included coloring specific pictures with the directions of what color to use and how many to color. They had a bit of math and sentences they had to write. They seemed so distracted that they really didn't do much and threw crayons all over the place. I ended up picking the things they threw, and started guiding them to encourage them to do work. Guiding them step by step, showed me a positive response that it got them doing work. They ended up finishing their packets and I just enjoyed making jokes with them.

Working for the first time at the school with the kids was not that cruel, instead I enjoyed helping the kids out and actually encouraged them to keep doing their work. After volunteering the principle told us that the kids were going to start their star testing and they will not be needing us. For the whole next week I did not volunteer anywhere and I told Mr.Speckles. I did not want to volunteer anywhere else, most of the places is doing labor or chores for other people. I rather help out then do something anyone is capable of doing. After the week had passed I went back to the school and decided to keep volunteering there.

Bills need to get paid

At first I had do idea where I should do my first service hours, so I asked a couple of my friends to see what they were doing and if I could tag along. I tagged along with Austin and we visited his moms work. There, we found he moms friend, Susan Reyes. She helped us get through this project. We had to see what judgement cases they had around and had to help put it into their data base system. We were given sheets of paper that had the judgement cases on them, and we had to go to the Alemeda County website and put each case where it properly needed to be. We saw which cases still needed to be paid, and the ones that haven't.

The things that we did was too look over the reports and highlight the cases that haven't been paid off yet. After highlighting the cases, we had to input the case numbers onto the computer, which took hours to do. Doing this may seem a little bit boring, which at first, it was. But we learned that us helping out will help Susan was really going to make things run more smoothly. Without them paying the rent for their businesses, the people at Chamber of commerce had the right to make them leave and lease the building to a company that can actually pay them.
This was a really fun experience for both Austin and I because we got to see how many people haven't paid off their rent and is close to being forced to leave. We got to learn that this job is not easy, you need practice and the patience to put all the numbers into the computer and highlighting what needed to be highlighted. Even thoigh it was a little bit boring, I was happy to get all of the peperwork done. Now I really know what its like to work as a paralegal, and what its like everyday for them. Truely, this was a great place to do some volunteer work, but I don't think I'll be coming back to this place for my next volunteer hours. I'll have to see what else is around.

Equity post 1

The car show is about getting caned food to the tri city homless shelter becasue they dont always have enough for all the mouths that need feeding. my brother is autistic and his friends tend to behomless and they will go to the homless shelter to be fed and that is one facter that makes me motivated.

for the first part of my voluntering for the whs car show 9th annual i went around door to door to people with cars worth showing at our show. the admistion is 20 dollars and a can of food. we never make a profit because it all goes to the homless.

the homless problem will never go away and most of them are vets that people never help out infact people will cross the street and thats not right.

Helping out a paralegal!

        For the first community service hours, Ron and I visited my mom's work where we found her friend Susan Reyes who helped me for this project. What we had to do was see what judgement cases were around and help put it into the database there. We were given sheets of paper with the judgement cases on it and we had to go to the Alameda County website and put in each case number that was on the papers. We saw which judgments have been paid and which hasn't.

       What we did most of the time was look over the reports and highlight the ones that haven't been paid off yet. After that we inputted the numbers into the computer and it lasted for a couple hours. At first doing this was a bit boring but then we learned that helping Susan was really gonna help out with businesses in the area. Without them paying for the rent for their businesses the people at the Chamber of Commerce can kick them out there and put in a new company who can pay.

      It was an interesting experience for us because we got to see how many people in the area have not payed their rent and are close to being evicted. We got to learn a lot from this and know what a paralegal does to help maintain business. It was a bit boring being there but we made use of our time and got all of the paperwork done. Now we can see what being a paralegal is about and what they do. Overall is was great and we were glad to help her and her business out!

      

Going back to elementry school

I decided to go back to my old elementary school, Cabrillo. They have an after school program called Prop 49. We help them out with their homework and anything else they need help with. On Monday’s they have a karate instructor come in and teach them some moves. On Wednesdays they go outside and play soccer. Its really fun playing soccer with the little ones and the staff because we get really competitive want to win. I really want to keep coming back to prop 49 because its really fun and I love helping out the little kids.

Prop 49 benefits these kids because it helps them with their homework and keeps their mind focused for a while so they wont get into any trouble. This after school program has helped these kids raise their grades and tests scores. Some kids have anger problems and prop 49 has helped them improve their behavior. I really like this program because the kids aren’t in the same class or grade but they became like a family. Although I have to admit some kids are really weird. Their little drunk people that spill the truth and leave you with your mouth open.

I definitely plan on coming back. I’ve met new people and they are really chill to hang out. Since my brothers go to Cabrillo I get meet their friends and know who they hang out with. Today was fun because after we finished helping the kids with their homework we went outside and played basketball, and I think it’s safe to say that basketball is not my sport! It was kind of embarrassing that 7 yr olds were better at shooting than me.

Coach Sam hit me

    For our first post, Kristian, Luis and I decided to do something physical and hands on. We all had many ideas and suggestions to were we could go, but we didn't know who would let us volunteer. Luis brought up the idea of coaching a youth sport and I instantly thought of the Irvington Community center. I had worked at the center as a basketball coach for most of summer and the winter basketball season. I still had some connections and called in a favor from my ex-boss Joe, and he passed me on to his side kick Robin, who was glad that I wanted to come back to share my vast knowledge of basketball with the kids and set up a date for us to volunteer ASAP.

    So we showed up to the center at 4:30 pm, the time I came in for work normally when I was a coach, and brought down the hoops and brought the balls out and prepared before the first class began. The kids started to show up around 4:50, 10 minutes before class began, and a bunch of the kids I had coached in the past ran to me with huge smiles and made me feel like I made a real difference as a coach. the first class was a group of 3-8 year old's, who's basketball skills are very limited. I led the stretches and warm-ups and we broke into 3 stations. I was in charge of the shooting station, and had Kristian and Luis help with dribbling and footwork. This group had some really small baller's so we had to bring the hoops down to 8 feet, but it was still difficult for some of the younger kids to shoot the ball that high. after all the group had been to each station, we broke into team's of 5 and played a few scrimmage games that the coaches took part in. I got a bit to into the game and dunked on the lowered courts and kicked a 4 year old in the face, the worst part was the kids mom was in the stands.
 
    I really felt like I made difference in the kids game,and I had a good time bounding and playing at the same time. The kids look up to us so much, I had some shadows at practice that would copy every thing I would do and where their socks like mine. You have to be careful around them, you don't want to have them copy anything that won't help them receive the brightest and best future. Volunteering with the Irvington Community Center helped me to understand how much of a role-model older kids can be toward younger kids and that you have to show them positive habits for them to be better people.


 I tried to get pictures of the kids but some of the kids parents didn't approve it ahead of time legally so I kinda took  a few pictures "illegally"

Gettin' warmed up.

So for my Equity project, I decided to do something that I know I’d enjoy doing.  So I volunteered for a girl’s soccer team in Newark.  The girls are about 10 and 11, so they are 5th and 6^th graders, except for one girl, she is in second grade, but she keeps up well.  Anyway, for my first day I was extremely nervous, I really wanted the girls to like me.  I got out of the car and they all asked who I was, I told them my name.  Then Mark, their coach called me and all of the girls over into a big circle.  Mark told them to raise their hand and say their name, I had to try and remember them all.  They’re young and think everything is funny so if I’d mix up a name that would make them laugh and make fun of me.  It was cute though, they were having fun.

Next thing we jumped into for the first day was warm ups, they all got a partner and lined up and did one touch passes to each other.  Some of the girls aren’t very experienced so I was there to help guide them with what ever task they had to do, and teach them the correct way.  Some of the girls were very stubborn, for example; one girl showed up late and started walking over, all the girls told me, “Watch out for her”.  I asked, “Why”, and they told me, “We call her Sassy, you’ll see why soon”. And I soon figured out why they call her Sassy.  She had no partner so I had to be partnered up with her, she wasn’t too bad, but if I told her to do something or not do something she would say “okay”, but wouldn’t listen to me.  I’m not going to lie, it made me frustrated and just wants to kick the ball at her face, but I got over it and acted as if I wasn’t annoyed.  Patience was very important for my first day with the girls.

For day one, I realized that you have to be patient with younger kids; they think they can just rebel against someone like me and think its okay.  I love kids though, and usually really patient with them, but I’ve never really had to help teach a sport.  It is more difficult than people think, especially the younger the group of kids are.  You tell them one thing and next thing you know, it’s in one ear and out the other.  Overall though, Id says it was a pretty successful first day, and I can’t wait to go back.  They enjoyed themselves, and I did too.

Here is a picture of the passing drill that they did for warm ups.

Having Fun With The Elders

This is the lobby of Aegis Living.


Finding a place to volunteer was something very difficult to find for my partner, Monisha, and I. At first, we called various Nursing Homes around our area and was only able to get accepted by one. However, to volunteer at facilities like these, certain requirements are needed, like orientations. Due to the conflicts that came up with getting an appointment with the Activity Director, Monisha and I were not able to getour orientation done until last Wednesday. However, through all the waiting and hard work we had to do to get our orientation done, Monisha and I were able to get our first volunteer job done last Saturday at Aegis Living by Walnut Avenue.

For our first volunteer, I was excited and anxious because I have never volunteered anywhere outside school. Our shift was from 9 am to 12 pm and we volunteered with two other people. When we first got there, Monisha and I met the first elder that we encountered at Aegis Living while we were waiting at the lobby. Mary came up to us and started talking about how much she loves walking around. At first, it felt a little uncomfortable because when she talked, she would walk right infront of me and move her head close to mine. This made me a little nervous and for a moment I did not how to respond to her but to smile and laugh at what she was saying. Then she got really comfortable and started talking about her family and how she was there because her husband had passed away and her kids are currently looking for a good place for her to live. At that moment, I felt shocked and a little flattered that she would even talk to me about something personal. This is one of the benefits that I felt while volunteering. Throughout the three hours that Monisha and I volunteered, I felt wanted and appreciated. The elders were people who you can sit down with and just talk about anything for the whole day. Often though, the elders, like Mary, would repeat stories that they have said multiple times, which was something I found cute, sad, and entertaining all at the same time. Also, I was able to witness something that we dont usually witness on a regular basis. In fact, like anyone, elders seek for company, friends, and daily activities that will keep them moving and occupied.

Throughout our morning shift, Monisha and I first helped out set up the chairs for the morning exercise that the elders do on Saturday mornings. Then by 10 am we did stretches and workouts with little weights with the elders that was led by one of the volunteers. After that event, the elders wanted to sing and liten to music so we had a little sing along with them with songs that were popular back in the days. After this morning activity, the elders left to go to their rooms and prepare for the Mother's Day Luncheon, sice it was the day before Mother's Day. For the luncheon, families of elders came to visit and had lunch with their parents. To prepare for this, we helped set up the utensils, table mats, and flowers on the tables. By this time, the elders' families were arriving and Monisha an I headed out on our way.

Overall, this volunteer experience was succesful and something that I am looking forward to do again. In fact, we are required to volunteer at Aegis Living for 50 hours so Monisha and I will be going back to volunteer for our next 3 volunteer assignments.

This is Mary, one of the elders we met.

This is the exercise room that we helped set up.

These are the tables we helped set up.

I Don't Like Kids.

First place I volunteered at was the Newark Library, with their Homework Express program. There were maybe 10-15 kids, elementary school age. I helped two of them with their homework, you know, those thick packets we used to get in kindergarten.

The room was small, and I was only there for about two hours, but it drove me crazy from the start. I'm still learning how to not be weird when meeting new people, and I'm really not even close, which is why this experience was a dud. I was uncomfortable upon walking in because the room was so small, complete with chairs too small for me to comfortably sit. So I'm squished in a chair in a small room with kids filing in, and the whole time I'm just praying I get an older kid that's calm, because kids can be crazy, and I don't know how to act around them.

I ended up with this little Mexican boy (I'm mentioning that because ALL of the kids were Mexican and the two adults in charge were white... I thought that was really weird, honestly) He wasn't all that bad I guess, but as you'd expect he was hyper. He didn't stay in his seat for more than five minutes, he was always going on a bathroom break or talking to another kid. The most awkward part was him randomly whispering profanity... I remember words like that being a big deal when I was younger, so I understood that it's pretty normal, but it was so uncomfortable because I had only been around him for about ten minutes - and how do I say stop? I don't know how to be firm let alone with a strange kid I don't know.

The other volunteers and the adults in charged seemed to be experts with the little guys so I felt super out of place. They all knew each other and things seemed to run smoothly with everybody, except for me. I'd forgot where things were, then the kids made a mess and I wasn't able to clean it up fast enough before the other kid I was working with who came in later on was asking me for help on his packet... Plus, I guess since I was knew, the first kid would have me write down things on the little individual white boards, he said you're supposed to write it down (the sentences they have to write) for whatever reason. The lady in charge warned me about kids trying to get me to give them the answers, and I'm pretty sure writing down the sentence is doing that because they don't have to try to spell the words out themselves, but the kid kept telling me I had to and it was my first day so I just went with whatever he told me. 

I stopped caring after maybe 40 minutes, when the anxiety started kicking in. I got insecure, the kids started getting to me, and I couldn't help replaying the fact that the room was tiny, the seat was digging into my sides, and I had over an hour to go. It messed with me, more than I thought it would. I hadn't expected to react the way I did. But I sat through the rest of the two hours having a panic attack inside my head.

At one point the lady in charge said "sometimes you have these little victories when the kids understand something, other times it's as if you haven't been working with them all this time, it's like they forget everything you taught them". Something along those lines. She seemed stressed out the whole time. I know the feeling, but I can't handle it all that well personally, so I made a choice. I was scheduled to come again the next day to volunteer but after the first day I knew I couldn't handle it. The anxiety I had felt wasn't worth the two hours, so I told her I wouldn't be coming back and explained myself. It was okay, and although I honestly hated the experience, I'm glad it all happened. 

As they say, it was quite the learning experience. 

As far as social issues goes... I don't think I did anything special. 

I didn't get the chance to take a picture of anyone, and I doubt they would have let me anyways because I mentioned it to the lady and she said they had some sort of policy about the volunteers taking photos for school... I didn't bother, so just settled with the banner picture. Close enough.

The banner.

Aegis Living

So my partner, Cristel, and I started a little late with this project because of all the requirements that the volunteer places required. But, we finally found Aegis Living, which gave us a quick orientation and let us get started as soon as we needed. The activity director let us have an hour orientation on Wednesday and we volunteered for our first day on Saturday. It was a really fun experience and we did a lot of cool things with the elderly residents that lived there.

The first thing that we did was set up their activity room in a circle of chairs for their morning exercise. We had another volunteer helping us so we got done pretty quickly. After we were done setting up the chairs and weight balls we were able to chat with some of the residents in the home. Most of the residents living there suffer from dementia, which is a disease that causes you to loose your memory over time. One of the residents we chatted with, in a picture below, shared us her story. She is unable to store short term memory, so throughout the conversation she repeated the same thing telling us, for example about her son that is a police officer and her late husband who was a butcher. It was really sad to see that people suffer from this disease. It was a good thing to know that she does still hold her long term memories with her family and husband. It really opened our eyes to know that maybe one day we won't be able to remember what we did 15 minutes ago.

 So Cristel and I joined the residents for a fun exercise session and sing-a-long. It was so much fun to see the residents doing their cute stretches and working out! After we were done, the home needed the room to be set up for their special surprise Mother's Day luncheon with all the residents. They invited all the families to come and spend time with their parents and they had a special buffet. We wiped down the tables and set up the placemats, silverware, and flowers. After we were done setting up, we had about 15 minutes left so we were allowed to walk around and see the rest of the home. This was what we did for our first day of volunteering for Aegis Living!

This is the front lobby of the nursing home

This is what we set up for the resident's exercise

This is one of the residents that we spoke with

These are the tables we set-up for the Mother's Day luncheon

Shaking Hips

 

Alicia and I volunteered at Halau its Alicia's dance studio that her aunt owns. After Alicia introduced me to everyone and we got started. She taught me three of the dances and i followed what she did. We also taught the younger ones the three dances it was really fun to watch them because they were focused on learning the dances but they were also little so they got really side tracked and we had to make sure they stayed in line. It was hard because you’re trying to dance and show them at the same time and keep all of them in line. It was really fun though because you got to see them learning and they knew what they wanted to become in the hula dancing.

When we took a break for awhile Alicia and her aunt told me about the history of it all the dancing and how its not exactly what all the tourist make it out to be. It’s so interesting how they start to tell all the history to the younger girls and they understand but they don’t and they grow up with it and so its cute to see how when they are young they know what they are doing because it’s in the family and the are just raised with it and they become older and stick with it.

Alicia and i had an interesting experience helping teach the little ones how to hula. I helped make sure that the ones that were too shy know that it was okay to let loose and dance. When I helped with keeping them aligned and to stay on task and focused even though I try not to get frustrated with kids so it was kind of hard for me. Especially when we were there teaching for about over an hour and a half because they are so little but others are older it’s difficult to teach at one level but In the end it was worth it because the little girls were so cute and you can’t get frustrated with them. I got to know all of them and I really would like to come back with Alicia and teach again.

BRAS FOR A CAUSE

     For the reaching for equity project i chose to work with Jesse, Latrell, and Chen. Jesses mother works at Safeway and told us about the Bras for a Cause foundation. It is a annual 6k walk that the team at Safeway participate in. Everyone that participates in the walk wears a bra that they design themselves, even the men. Our job was to sell as many cupcakes that we could to raise money for the foundation. I thought that this was going to be super easy just selling cupcakes but there was a catch we had to wear bras also just like the walkers.
    We showed up to Safway right after school and kind of just wandered around for a bit and waited for the cupcakes and to set up the table. My job was to greet all of the customers as they were passing by the table and let them know all of the information about the foundation. my first couple of attempts didn't go to well but as i kept on talking to people about it they started to buy the cupcakes. we got giggles and people making fun of us for wearing bras, but there were some people that wanted to thank us for being brave and being able to do this for the people with breast cancer.  Two women almost started crying because they had lost loved ones to not only breast cancer but also other cancer. I noticed that the people that donated the most were the people that had known or does know someone with the disease.
     I cannot wait until day two of our community service. In a little under two hours we made over $200.00. Latrell was complaining about wearing the bra at first but that is how we got alot of the money was because the women thought that we looked cute. I would wear a bra any day to make $200.00 for an organization.

One Of A Kind

The place I volunteered at was called F.U.S.D. Native American Studies Program. I picked this place because I wanted to try something different. I was going to go to my elementary school but while I was talking to my classmates some of them said they were going to do the same. So I decided to look at something else, and Jazmin found this place. The purpose of this place was to help Native Americans with their school because there is not many around the Fremont area. And one of the things that they wanted to do is bring all of them together to try to bring all of the different cultures together and show them all of the differences between them. Because even though they are all Native Americans they all have their unique stuff that they do in every tribe.

When I arrived there the first thing that I saw was all of their things hanging on the wall. They were very unique that I have only seen them in books and movies but not in person. And then we got greeted by the person in charge of the place. She was very nice and right away she took us to the museum they have in the classroom about all of the tribes that were around back then. She knew a lot of things of all of the tribes. And when she finished giving us the tour of the museum there was already many kids taking out there assignments on the table.

I think there were about 20 kids there in such a small place. Right away a kid called for my help, he was on a computer trying to fix his essay. The teacher asked him to write the essay in third person but he got confused and wrote it in first person. I was trying to explain to him what he needs to do but he kept on going off topic and saying jokes. He was such a funny little kid instead of me helping him out on his essay he wanted me to teach him some Spanish words. So, I made him a deal and told him if he finished his essay I would teach him. He was trying to do it so fast that he wasn’t even doing it right and because of that I made him do it all over. But before he was able to finish his essay the instructor called everybody to the center of the class and get into a thing they call a “tribe circle”.

In the tribe circle they have a talking stick called the eagle feather. And only the person holding the eagle feather can speak. At first she passed around the eagle feather so if anybody had anything interesting planned or already did she wanted us to share it out to everybody. After everybody shared out there story of the week, she gave us a topic that we had to talk about. And the topic she ended up giving us was, what are you good at and how did you become good at it? Many of the kids said that they were really good at video games because they play it a lot and I thought that was humorous because I was able to picture myself when I was little playing video games all day. But, when the eagle feather came to me I said that I was good at soccer because I have been playing since I was little and I haven’t stopped since. And I said even though I have been playing my whole life doesn’t mean I am the best, there is always room to improve in whatever you do. The tribe circle is the way they end there class.

Amazing Grace at the Amazing Grace Mental Carehome

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These are a couple of the patients that I volunteered with at the Amazing Grace Mental Carehome.

How 2 play Da Game

To start this equity project we call places to volunteer but they say they had help already. So than we tough that kids were the ones that need it help.Those Kids that someday we were. We decided to volunteer on the irvington community center. were kids need help with sports activities. We reach them because my patner sam use to work for them doing this. We talk to Joe and Robin and they said that we could volunteer to help the kids. They were good people that let us help them. We work with kids of age 3-8 and 9-15. The first day we got there we met kids that were little and some big but they all had the same goal. Wich was to play basketball. Some were good at it and some not to good. But thats why we were there to help them. We did shooting, dribbiling, passing. many had the idea on how to play and others were learning. but most of them liked how we treat them and how we help them and they learned new things about the sports. We liked our volunteer help because we are helping kids to learn new things. And we thinking of going back because they really need help so they because good at this sport. And that our next step its going to be teach them team work its the best form to win a game... We couldn't take pictures of the kids that we help because some were under age and there parents didnt agree. But we took pictures of the place and were kids go for help.

This is the place we were volunteering at . a big place were kids go and learn to play the sport

These picture is when kids were playing and sam in the gray was teaching them how to shoot

KIDZ

                                                                         

A child is vulnerable to many influences, in the street and home as well as the school. But while the school environment can be controlled, that outside is not so easily regulated. To ensure that children use their time outside school as productively as possible, programs should be arranged for outside school hours. So for my reaching for equity project, I decided to volunteer in the After School Cabrillo Program. I was always interested in helping the youth by helping them with their homework and being productive after school. Since I have a little brother I have been a good role model to him and helped him out, so why not help other kids too.

When I arrived to Cabrillo I was greeted by the members who were helping the kids, they seemed really nice as the introduce themselves. I was then put to work as I helped the students with their homework. If the students had any questions they would raise their hand and wait to be helped. It was sometimes difficult helping the students with their homework because some were stubborn kids. Since, most of them were in first grade I tried reasoning with them and try to guide them through their homework. After everyone was done with their homework we would go outside and engage with extracurricular activities. I watched over the kids and also played hide-in -go -seek and made some new friends.

Overall, it was a fun experience helping out the kids, it brought the inner child in me. I love volunteering there because the kids are fun to be around and respectful. I interacted with them and found me funny to be around. I think it was a successful volunteering opportunity and hopefully I get to do it again.