Wednesday, November 26, 2008

13) Activist Project.



Unfortunetly, there isn't one single activist project that i am passionate about, but while in high school i was on Student Council for all four years and i managed to get involved and volunteer in several things that i was proud to be a part of.

In grade 9 and 10 i participated in a Pilgrimage for Haiti at my school St.Francis Secondary. We walked from the school all the way downtown St.Catharines on a Sunday morning for mass and a barbeque with the other Catholic schools in St.Catharines. We would raise as much money as possible, trying to surpass the goal that we would usually make in order to renvoate or even build schools in Haiti. In 2003, 330 students participated, raised 21,000 dollars which went towards funding for solar panels for a school in St.Marc [1]. Other projects that i participated in which raised money for Haiti was a haunted house fundraiser where the Art Club created from scratch a haunted house at Halloween in the gymnasium and charged a dollar entry fee for students, friends and family to walk through. There was also games and food in the cafeteria. My last year at St.Francis in grade 10 i think we raised 1,000 dollars from people walking through the haunted house alone.

At St.Francis we always had some sort of fundraiser happening like backpacks with school supplies that was also sent out to Haiti, or food drives for the local shelters. It felt good knowing that i helped a good cause, even if it was something small.

In the summer before grade 11 i moved to the Alliston, the town that i live in now. I attended Banting Memorial High School with 2,000 other students. One of the major fundraisers i helped out with both years was the Diabetes Walk/Run. We would get the students to raise as much money as they could from their families and friends, and the day of the Walk/Run we would host a huge barbeque at the back of the school by the football field. Students that were involved would either walk or run the course which was around the neighbourhood close to the school. In grade 11 i managed to do my duty on Student Council in running the games and events on the field for after the Walk/Run and also run the course myself. In grade 12 i didn't run the course but i donated money and helped out with the barbeque and assembly. Did you know that in 2007 alone, 6.5 million dollars was raised for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation! [2].

Although these are only small projects they were dear to my heart because i felt like i was actually making a difference by helping out and getting involved with something important. I think more people should help out more often, even if its small fundraisers or food drives. Help in any way shape or form no matter how small or big will make you feel better as a person knowing you're making a difference in someone else's life who may just need your help more than you might know.


[1] http://www.romancatholic.niagara.on.ca/vineyard/fullnews.cgi?newsid1068896421,71758,

[2] http://www.jdrf.ca/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=0C43D050-DEF5-CD40-B66ACCDA7C1FD0AE

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