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As a Field Advocate and Community Walk Team Leader for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention I get to play an active part in suicide prevention.
Building relationships with members of congress enables more effective advocacy for bills that will help educate the community about suicide prevention as well as help those who struggle with mental illness. Additionally, I lead a team in the annual "Out of the Darkness" Community Walk. This past September, we raised $420, which raised the total donations raised by my team to $975 since the team was started in 2013. |
Alternative Fall Break 2013: Food InsecurityWe spent Fall break learning about and working to decrease food insecurity in UT.
This opportunity not only educated me about the statistics and economic factors that play into food insecurity, but I saw youth volunteering in each of these organizations. These 13-17 year olds were teaching me how to grow produce and lay irrigation systems. They were involved. One of the girls told me she had started volunteering as a requirement, but had since become employed by the organization and was in a position of leadership. I cannot think of a better way to solve the food insecurity issue than to provide kids now with opportunities that will build self reliance. |
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Good in the Hood
Good in the 'Hood is an organization dedicated to intentional acts of kindness that can simply make a difference in one life, one family, one community at a time. The program set up to work with children in Salt Lake City, UT who have come to the United States from refugee camps in Sudan, Nepal, Somalia, The Conga, and other countries. For Easter weekend, Good in the Hood hosted an Easter Egg hunt and Egg Dying party for the kids in the housing complex. These kids are amazing people with so many personalities that are just filled with joy! This event was the second time I have worked with the kids, and I am really excited to keep working with them!
Recycle Mania Event
After great Success for "Feed Your Green" we partnered with Recycle Mania, a national organization committed to increasing recycling on school campuses, and threw a kick off event for the 8 week competition.
FEED YOUR GREEN EVENT!
As part of Student Leaders In Civic Engagement, we applied for and got, a grant to use for this event! The petitions we put out over the past 2 years paid off, we got recycling on campus and funding to keep it sustainable. The program funding went into action July 2010 and bins have been going up on each campus.
Now that we have the program, we wanted fellow students to know how to recycle and why it is so crucial to our earths ability to sustain itself with the human footprint.
Now that we have the program, we wanted fellow students to know how to recycle and why it is so crucial to our earths ability to sustain itself with the human footprint.
Salt Lake City Marathon 2010
As a volunteer at the Salt Lake City Marathon, I approached the barricades and notices boxes and boxes filled with uses water bottles piling up in the hundreds. It was then our assigned task to hand out additional water bottles. Desa-Rae, another Service Council student, and myself were informed that no recycling was being done! No recycling and yet they had purchased 15,000 water bottles! Desa-Rae and I took this into our own hands an began collecting as many recyclable materials as we could cram, stuff, and wedge into the back of a Jeep to get to the Landfills recycling reciprocal. After doing this I decided it is not okay to abuse our resources so much in one single event that is such a positive event. This next few months I will be working with the Council and with Scott Byington who manages the Marathon organization, to start a recycling program. I have contacted Rocky Mountain Recycling and can't wait to hear back from them! I am ready to make no impact...on the environmental downfall that is!
Utah Campus Compact Social Justice Conference
A conference focused on discussing what social justice is, where it exists, and how to pursue social justice. Discussions, simulations, exercises, etc. got us all energized about getting back and acting for change. At SLCC we will begin with the Oxfam Banquet to raise awareness and resources for the hungry.
Wasatch Community Gardens Tomato Party!
The garden allows local community member's to row their own produce even if they don't have their own land. Every year a big Tomato Sandwich Party is held with delicious fresh tomato sandwiches on freshly baked local bread and locally made fresh pesto. I was assigned face painting...the kids loved it!!!
No More Homeless Pets Super Adoption!
Over 370 pets were adopted out through the weekend! Katrina Plunk with Student Leaders in Civic Engagement was very active in getting us to come out and support the cause. Excellent weekend!
Kick It Up Leadership Training
As a member of Salt Lake Community College Student Association, all leadership oriented/related students were taken to a retreat for the a few days where we were actively networking, learning about our colleges diverse options, sharpening leadership styles, skills, communication, etc. A great experience in which I was able to develop more bonded friendships with people who I now know I can work with and how we can help each other out. The training was a perfect revamp for this scholastic year!
LeaderShape Institute 2010!
I attended The LeaderShape Institute at the Alerton Mansion in Campaign, IL this past week and was extremely grateful I did so. The theme of Leading with integrity, building community, understanding yourself and how to best work with others, as well as an innumerable amount of interpersonal lessons and growth were gained. The diverse supportive and empowering atmosphere had me focused on striving to reach seemingly impossible goals and I have changed for the better. The last lecture speaker stated "When you go home, people are going to ask you what it was like here. You won't be able to express it, because the experience is so intense and literally unexplainable." I knew this opportunity would help me lead, and I have already noticed times in S.L.I.C.E. where I have been able to use the skills for understanding others and their leadership approach. By understanding them, I have a team of more optimistic and internally driven student leaders.
The lecturer was right, I can't explain it. I can explain that I feel so empowered, motivated, and as I write this very sentence I have that excited and scared feeling in my gut, that feeling you get before a roller coaster, or promotion, or seeing someone succeed!
This was absolutely a week in my life that has contributed to the shaping, values, and integrity within my soul. A week when I let all inhibition go and reaching for the stars was an understatement.
The lecturer was right, I can't explain it. I can explain that I feel so empowered, motivated, and as I write this very sentence I have that excited and scared feeling in my gut, that feeling you get before a roller coaster, or promotion, or seeing someone succeed!
This was absolutely a week in my life that has contributed to the shaping, values, and integrity within my soul. A week when I let all inhibition go and reaching for the stars was an understatement.
UCC Leadership Conference May 2010
This past week was spent in Cedar CIty Utah where I attended a leadership conference and training to further develop and enhance my leadership skills. Surrounded by student leaders from all 12 colleges and universities in Utah I learned about a variety of skills. Judson Laipply influenced us to acknowledge the “Life is change” and “You create every change in life with the choices you make.” I attended sessions focussing on working effectively with university and college administration, motivating others by maintaining good relationships with people, time management for student leaders, taking the initiative to build my university/college, initiating state-wide service projects, and using leadership as the gateway to community engagement. I also sat on the panel representing a current part time AmeriCorps student for session about incorporating AmeriCorps on campus.
This conference helped me grow in my competency in leadership and I was able to develop connections and relationships with amazing people I never would have met, as you can see in the photo by the van. Motivation and ideas began to buzz through my veins after one day. We learned fire building skills with woods found in local forests, a rock, and a rope; which provided a lot of insight into how hard I will work at something and what kind of failures make me quit or what motivates me to keep going. This was an amazing conference! Th
This conference helped me grow in my competency in leadership and I was able to develop connections and relationships with amazing people I never would have met, as you can see in the photo by the van. Motivation and ideas began to buzz through my veins after one day. We learned fire building skills with woods found in local forests, a rock, and a rope; which provided a lot of insight into how hard I will work at something and what kind of failures make me quit or what motivates me to keep going. This was an amazing conference! Th
Primary Childrens Hospital April 2010
Last Saturday all of the Colleges and Universities in Utah got together to help fix up Primary Children's Hospital. We started out removing christmas lights from the trees around the grounds, then moved to staining some benches to look ice and deep for spring. We also weeded the main garden bringing out the green even more. I really enjoyed cleaning up and knowing that even just seeing a nice place when they arrive helps the kids feel better. If they can touch grass, or a leaf, or a plant, or anything living like that, they have such a joy! The hospital staff told us how much the kids crave being able to touch nature. One girl apparently woke up from a coma and had said that touching grass would prove to her she was alive. That statement inspired the whole Angel Garden which is an easy accessible green filled beautiful garden!
Fall Leaf Haul 2009
This past Saturday we did some serious leaf raking. It was perfect weather, and everyone was motivated and worked hard. We rakes the leaves in the yards of people who would be considered elderly or disabled, and therefore are unable to do it themselves. We loaded up the Jeep with rakes, bags, and gloves, and went to work.
Halloween at the YWCA
Halloween was one of my favorite service activities so far this year. We threw a Halloween party for the kids at the YWCA. These kids have come to the shelter for safety from domestic violence and abuse and I was so happy we were able to help them out. They all came in wearing costumes that they were so excited to be in and so proud. We had games, crafts, face painting, etc set up for them and they loved it! These kids would have their face painted, wash it off, have it done again, and repeat the process several times. I really enjoyed seeing these kids having so much fun and being able to experience Halloween, even though they couldn’t go out trick-or-treating. We all had a blast!
Alternative Spring Break 2009 Seattle, WA
Alternative Spring Break: During Spring break of 2009 as a group of students we arrived in Seattle, WA Ready for a week of work on environmental restoration and sustainability. Projects included working with The Puget Creek Restoration Society, AmeriCorps, and Mountain to Sound Greenway. This trip entailed long days of eradicating blackberry bushes and English Ivy, as well as planting hundreds of trees, and working with kids in the community. It was cold, wet, rainy, and exhausting all day every day, and amazing experience. I would do it again in a heart beat!
