To April, leading us to reach out to others. Thank you!

May I start off my final blog by saying thank you so much to April for giving me this opportunity to reach out and serve others, it truly has been an amazing journey, and a unique opportunity that I would not have had in a regular English class, so thank you once again April for thinking outside the box. We still have not been able to deliver the rest of the bins, if for some reason the school decides not to take the rest of the clothes then we have other schools that we can contact to give the rest of the bins to.
From this project I have learned how to do laundry, create a blog, find greater joy in serving others, and to work better with my mom and my sister. I also found other peoples blogs very inspiring especially the project that was centered on lifting and encouraging others through art... by the way if you are reading this I still think it would be super cool if you drew me as a cartoon:D
In the future I would like to continue serving children in the community because some children are less fortunate than others and can't help the circumstances they are in. The next time I am participating in a service project, or in charge. I really want to take upon the role as a leader and be on top of things instead of having someone reminding me to stay on task, which my mom kind of had to do during this project.  It was helpful to have the reminder, because my sister and I lead busy lives trying to balance church, school and sports, but I felt bad because this was our project and we needed to own it and have it be one of our main priorities and not be caught up in our social media and other activities to be honest. I know I have leadership skills and I would like to develop them more through serving others. I know that " You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine." I believe that is what you have taught us April through the 20% project:)

Sister, Sister

When April first assigned this project to me I was completely over whelmed. I wanted my project to really mean something to me, not just a project that would be able to fulfill the requirements. My first project thought was to make backpacks and give them to kids in need, but that idea was quickly cancelled out due to the fact that the last time I had sewn was about four years ago, and I didn't have a sewing machine, but I really wanted to stick with helping kids in some way. I went and looked up  schools that I could go to and help tutor kids, because I was in a reading class in the second grade which not only helped me become a better reader, but helped me become the avid reader that I am today. I was disappointed to find out that  I couldn't make that work with my school schedule. Feeling frustrated, I decided to go to my mom to see if she had thought of any ideas. We talked about different ideas, then we realized that my sister had begun to start a service project to take unwanted clothes from her school, and donate clothes from the lost and found at her school. I asked if I could become her partner in service for this project. As I was asking her this I honestly thought she would decline my request due to her wanting to do this project on her own, but to my surprise she agreed. That's how the Secret  Service Sisters project started. From this experience I have learned how to do laundry which is kind of pathetic to say because I am sixteen years old and I should be doing my own laundry, but most importantly, I really felt like I have grown closer to my sister. Before my sister and I were close, but not as close has we could be. We have learned to work together and have discovered that we work well together even though we did argue a little on who had to fold and who was going to count the clothes, but we came to a compromise in the end. I am thankful for this opportunity, and want to serve others more with my sister(:

Serving from the heart

Why do we serve? People in this world usually serve others for one of three reasons, obligation, reward, or serving from ones heart. Through my experience I feel that out of these three reasons the best way to serve others is when you unselfishly serve from your heart.
Obligation, one time I received a phone call from a young mom asking if I could come watch her kids. Since she had asked me before and I declined the request, I felt as if I needed to tell her yes.  During the week a friend approached me asking if I would like to come over to watch a movie with a couple of other girls. Totally forgetting I had already agreed to the babysitting job I told my friend that I would definitely be able to make it. When I returned home from school I went up to my mom and asked her about going to my friends house to watch a movie. She replied that she was sorry, but reminded me that I already had made plans for babysitting. Boy, was I mad! I told her that I would call the mother up and tell her that something came up and that I could not watch her children. Then my mom gave me "that look" that makes you feel so guilty, so out of obligation I went. I was glad I was able to help. I know I did the right thing. The young mother and her husband were grateful for a much needed date night.
Receiving a reward, I fall under this category a lot more than I should, because who doesn't like rewards. Chores... every day my mom gives me a list of chores to do around the house, and if I fulfill them then I sometimes receive money for those chores, and I am also able to have free time to do fun things with friends. Sometimes when my mom or dad will me ask me to do something for them that may be inconvenient or difficult, they will reward me by offering to take me to go get Jamba Juice or to go shopping. Although, I am willing to help my parents, I should do it because I want to help them and not for a reward. They do so much for me.
Serving from the heart, the 20% project and other service projects that I have done in the past where I have put the needs of others before mine because I want to and not because I have to or receiving something in return has always been the most rewarding. Seeing people happy makes me happy. I find myself wanting to help others more with out any selfish gain. Today my mother sent me a picture of a student wearing one of the T shirts we provided. Seeing that picture showed me that they had a great need for the clothes and made me want to be able to continue this project next year. Serving others in this way helps me grow and makes me want to be a more caring person.

My project is going smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy

The project has gone very smoothly so far. My sister and I have finished washing all the donated clothes... well with the help of my mom too, which we did a total of twenty five loads of laundry. We split the cost of the laundry detergent, bounce sheets, and plastic bins. We sorted boy and girl spring and summer clothes into two large bins by clothing type and size. My sister and I made a list of how many clothing items were in each bin.  We delivered the two bins to the teacher of the school who made us aware of the children's need of clothes. She then told us that the lady who is part of the staff that takes care of the kids, who are sent to the office due to their clothing not being functional for school was so grateful for the clothing donations because a lot of these kids will come into her with wet pants, holes in their clothes, clothes that are dirty and that don't meet the school dress code standards.  Often these kids come in and see the clothes that are being offered to them and they are embarrassed because the clothes aren't very appealing. This may sound like they are being picky, but it's all about self worth. They want to feel good about what they're wearing. My sister and I, especially being girls, can totally relate to this feeling. Most of the kids at this school have a very hard life, in fact we found out that another organization fills backpacks with food every Friday and sends them home with kids so they can have something to eat over the weekend. We let the teacher know that we still have approximately six more large bin that we will be filling with both girls and boys jeans, sweat shirts, and winter coats to deliver when the principal approves of the storage place, which is a neat story that was told to us. The staff lady that's over the clothes knows how much of a need there is, but she didn't know of a place to store the clothes and was willing to store them at her house. In the middle of the night she woke up with the idea of exactly where there was space to store the clothes at the school. My sister and I felt this was a blessing of inspiration.

What to change? I feel that the project is going very well, but my mom has been reminding my sister and I about what we need to do on the project. I feel that my sister and I need to become more independent on the project. We should be reminding each other of what we need to finish to accomplish.  The comments on my blog have been very encouraging, and I enjoy receiving them so keep them coming thank you all:)

Mommy mentor

The mentor I have chosen to help me through my 20% project is my mom, Angelique E. While we were sorting the clothes, some of them had stains, rips or were a bit worn. My mom told my sister and I to put them to the side because they were not good enough to give away, my sister asked my mom why, and my mom proceeded to share an experience she had when she was first married that profoundly affected her.

 One evening she and my dad went out to dinner with another couple to a famous restaurant in Los Angles called the Apple Pan. My mom was all dressed up in her pearls and Laura Ashley dress feeling very confident. She ordered dessert, but took it to go. When she was walking out of the restaurant, there on the side of the street, near the restaurant was a hungry homeless man. She approached the homeless man and gave him the apple pie thinking pridefully that she had done such a  good deed. The homeless man genuinely thanked her and then asked if she wouldn't mind going back into the restaurant to get him a cup of milk or water. She told the man no and walked away. Later that night when she was home she had a guilty feeling about the experience she had. She asked herself "Why couldn't I have simply gone back into the restaurant and got him a drink?" She wished she could go back and make things right. The experience humbled her and she realized she needed to treat the less fortunate with more compassion and dignity. She couldn't go back and change the past, but she could change her future actions. From that day on when she has served others she has wanted to make sure that she did it with an open heart, it is not about her, but about them. She wants us to feel the same way and I hope sharing this experience inspires others. My mom says "When it comes to serving others give THEM your best."

In my first blog post I forgot to discuss  the financial aspect of my project. We have decided to use our own washer and dyer to clean the clothes instead of going to a laundry mat . My mom, my sister and I are going to split the cost of laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and the bins that will hold the clothes. This will help us feel more invested in this service project. We will be doing lots of laundry this weekend. We hope to finish all the cleaning by Monday.

Secret Service Sisters

For the rest of the school year I have been asked by my teacher to accomplish a 20% project that will help  benefit the community. The project I have chosen is to help my little sister collect and distribute clothes that have been donated by both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Grant Elementary school. The clothes that we have collected are going to a school in need. The goal that have in helping my sister to fulfill this project is grow closer to my sister and to be able to give back to others. There was a time in my life when my parents were tight on money and I had a friend that would give the clothes to me. Receiving those clothes were a blessing. I felt good about myself because I had clothes that were new to me and that someone cared about about me. Even though these kids will not know me, I want them to know that someone cares. To make this project a success my sister and I need to wash the clothes that have been donated, fold and separate them into types and sizes. We also need to count them, because we just found out from the teacher who our liaison with the school that we may have more clothes then they need so we will be calling other schools in need to ask if they would like us to donate clothes to their school. The mentor that I have chosen to help assist me is my mother, because she is the only one who could handle me and my sister, just kidding. My mom is looking forward to helping us with this project. We are excited to do this project and we plan to remain anonymous as secret service sisters:)