Youth for Humanity

This week has marked an important point of this project: the first week of the sale itself. I have nearly 60 volunteers that have already given their part in this mission to raise awareness and funds for the local homeless issues.

In this excitement, there is also a lot of stress on myself to adapt to anything that comes at me. So far, I am trying to find a way to better advertise the sale and to be able to generate more sales. I have had to cope with days that just don’t seem to have enough hours. There are days where I am expected to be in 4 or 5 places at the same time; and obviously, I cannot. This forces me to make decisions. This forces me to adapt.

The issue of being a life-long learner is not black-and-white. You must be flexible, to be able to apply what you learned in previous situations in order to ensure a positive outcome. I went into the craft sale with little-idea of what to expect, and I still am figuring things out.

Life is a journey to learn about the world though the sciences, ourselves through the humanities, and most importantly to learn how to care and love those around us through work and dedicated service.

Kind regards,

In the past couple of weeks, I have realized the need to recruit volunteers and to really get the ball rolling - especially since I have received all the permissions and supplies that I need. To be completely honest, I have been dreading the prospect of having to find volunteers. 

“What if no one cares about the cause? What if everyone is busy? How would they all stay in the loop?” said the anxious voice in my head. Well, I knew that this project was going to be no easy task, even more so with it coinciding with end-of-the-year exams and a dizzying schedule for our schools 100th anniversary.

Yet, when I did begin to recruit volunteers, I was surprised. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I find people that accepted my propositions, but I found people eager to help - taking initiative. Throughout the recruitment process, I have gotten people who were willing to give up their free time to help fold crafts, to help sell the crafts, to publicize the event, as well as documenting it.

Contact was made with the staff in charge of the school fundraising and the sale was extended from the original date of May 4th - May 8th to May 4th to May 15th. The Music Council and Volunteer Council at our school was also kind enough to post up my Facebook page (link below) on their websites. I am also making announcements to advertise the sale and recruit volunteers during the morning P.A. announcements.

With such a successful take-off, there is still a long journey ahead: to make the sales and to involve even more youth - all in hopes of serving the needy and developing a caring and justice-seeking generation!

Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1440590666237974/

Until next time!

Best wishes,

In the past 4 weeks, I have been sharing mostly about the different people that I tried to reach out to for help and support. There wasn't much in the way of the result of those conversations. This week however, I was able to get started with the Volunteer Council at my school giving their support after consulting with their staff adviser. I was able to get started on a logo for this project which I hope to share shortly. There were people that just couldn't wait to help out with the project. 

In the coming weeks, I hope to recruit more volunteers and to further develop a relationship with the groups that I will be working with. Actually being able to hear back in regards to my calls for support was incredibly encouraging and really makes the project feel even more real in my mind than it already was. 

I have decided that I would want to sale paper origami roses for Mother’s day on May the 10th. They will require relatively little material, but will require a solid commitment on the part of the volunteers.

So with this in mind, I have a lot to do and a LOT to look forward to as well! I will continue to keep this blog updated as things unfold. 

Best wishes,

This week - the first week post-training sessions, I realized that things needed to get done. The end of the project is May 24th and it is fast approaching. I need to start creating a visually accessible timeline of what needs to be done in order to effectively and successfully carry out “Youth for Humanity.”

I am learning of the importance of giving yourself buffers/alternative options to work with as projected deadlines are missed. The goal of this week was to establish who would be interested in helping out with the events, what facilities are available to be used - in summary, identifying my resources. 

In correspondence with my goals, I went and asked many of my peers if they would be interested in helping out with my event. I was pleasantly surprised by how positively they responded and their eagerness to help. I worked on talking with my school and the volunteer council to assess their interest in this project and what they would be willing to do to help. After a week and a half of writing memos and pestering the secretaries, I was finally able to get an appointment with a Vice-Principal last Thursday. They showed their support in what I am doing, though given the complexity of monetary exchange in schools, they will have to consult with the Principal and within the school administration. I expect to hear back by the end of next week. I am still waiting on word from the Volunteer Council.

Meeting with my mentor, we discussed checking for how each step in the project fulfills the larger goal. I am hoping to be able to sell 350 paper roses for Mother’s Day. I am working on a cost analysis for the different resources required of the project. 

I wonder if I could talk to various teachers if they would be able to raise the subject at the end of classes. I wonder how effective it  would be in comparison to having a larger gathering to raise awareness about the fundraising initiative and the issues that homeless people face as a whole.

A major issue that I would like to address as part of this project is the taboo of interacting with the homeless. While we all certainly like to help the homeless, we don’t want to stay and talk. This is due to the idea that they are unsanitary or even that they are not good people. The assumption that the homeless had done something to get themselves where they are is unfortunate and often untrue. Therefore, a major part of this project is to encourage a sense of greater support to the homeless on a personal level as well as removing the hesitation we have of interacting with them.

In the topic of talking, this week in preparation for the project, I have begun to ask people to help out with the logistics of the fundraising and events to be held. Many of them agreed to for which I am grateful. I have also tried to get an appointment with the vice-principal at my school in order to discuss the use of the school hallways during lunch for fundraising. This is probably going to take a fair while before I will be able to get an appointment. I am looking to ask the local community service association (Agincourt Community Services Association) for help as well.

It is a great experience to see the planning begin to materialize into something that involves people: my friends, my peers, and my community. There was a realization that this was going to be something that I will be working on for the next 2 months. There is both a sense of excitement and anxiety - not unlike a feeling that you would get from giving a performance or a presentation on a subject you care about passionately.

We are also meeting our mentors in our next training session. I am looking forward to that! I hope that this will be a journey that will be rewarding for myself and hopefully the mentors as well. I believe that communication with my mentor will be incredibly important in the smooth running of the project - to ask questions and discuss answers together.

So with the beginnings of this project, it is evident that communication (internally and externally) will play a huge role in how well everything goes!

Having entered the second week of preparation to raise awareness and to serve the homeless, there are a lot of logistical details that must be determined and thought of. I can say, with certainty, that this will not be a easy task (i.e. involving 60 high school students to volunteer at least 3 hours of their time to benefit the homeless) and will require the help and dedication of the community at large. 

At this point, it is apparent as I am setting “deadlines” for myself regarding the details of this project that questions and doubts still linger for me. Will I be able to successfully carry out this project? Will I be able to find those who are willing to help and give their resources to the cause? How do I know if it was worth it in the end? However, I do think that these questions can actually be quite constructive. They force me to consider why I am doing what I am doing - which leads me to how I would get there.

I am determined to hold my head up high through this 2-month journey and am preparing myself to tackle problems that will inevitably arrive. I AM ready. I AM ready to face these challenges with the support of the community. I hope to instill the same drive for equality - for justice to be served between social classes in those that I will be working with.

As what I do have planned, I think that my project can be kept relatively simple and, as such, most materials should be relatively simple to find for free/at an affordable price.

This is not to say that there won’t be challenges. From the day 1, I identified finding people that are willing to help would be a major challenge. I hope to dedicate a good portion of my time in the coming weeks to ask, personally, close friends, peers, and authoritative figures on if they are willing to help or if they know anyone that are. I another tricky aspect is getting the number of people that need to be involved into events. 60 students is a lot of people; thus, the events will likely have to be done on multiple dates. This will certainly increase the workload on the volunteering team, and possibly inflate costs.

I will keep you posted as the planning and the project itself unfolds.

Regardless of how hard we try to convince ourselves, there ARE people that end up returning from school or work every day without any food or other commodities for themselves - or worse still, they might not even have a place to call home every night, and the resources they need for a new opportunity to get back into the societal systems.

As such, I am hoping - with your support - that we will be able to do something to support them hungry and shelter-less through their situation and back on to their feet. Often times in a city as privileged as Toronto, we convince ourselves that we are “successful” because we DESERVE it and that those who are not “successful” are equally deserving of their situation. However, we forget that life can be rough and that even the best people who are the brightest, and kindest end up in tough times because of a plethora of reasons thrown in their way - be it a serious illness in the family or an unfortunate accident with their possessions. With this attitude of entitlement, we often end up treating the poor in a way that oppresses them. Are they not a person too, with complex lives of their own? Are they not a fellow human for us to enjoy life with and to work on bettering the future together? Why do we often not act so, then?

These are some of the big questions that I am indeed struggling through. I hope that my involvement in the Volunteer Toronto Innovator’s Project will better this community and also be an opportunity for those serving to better the lives of those they serve and enrich their own outlook on life. I am hoping to conjure more concrete details and ideas regarding the project in the coming weeks of training, and as such, for you to keep checking this page for updates on specific details.

As of now, I am considering a multi-phased plan of action. One to advertise/find funding and to budget and a phase two that gives back to the community. Depending on demand and community preference, a variety/talent show would be possible, board game nights, charity car washes, etc.

I am very excited for the next couple of months and look forward to what all of you have to offer! Please feel free to ask any questions or give any suggestions to this blog!