Monday, May 23, 2005

A Success!!!

Well, as a class, we did it! The students' rummage sale and car wash was a success on many levels. Over 600 dollars was raised for tsunami relief, and leftover rummage was donated to Goodwill, Friends of the Library, and PARCA. True, there was a moment or two where we all wondered, "what is going to happen with all of this stuff??!!" But in true Ocean Shore nature, it was moved and taken care of before 3:00 in the afternoon. The children all participated, even the ones that couldn't join us on SUnday, and over half of the families were washing, selling, cleaning, organizing, cheering, laughuing, supporting and giving so much on the day of the event (in some cases, paying 5 dollars to wash their own car!!)

To say that I am proud of them is not saying nearly enough.


5 weeks and counting, and it looks like I will be moving my apartment into storage for the summer. The list continues to grow, but all is good. Jamie is getting set for the trip. She had three shots just today, and has to go back for two more. What an adventure that keeps evolving.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Helping is Contagious

May 13, 2005 So many things have changed, it almost isn’t worth writing the new plan, because surely it will change again. However, the good news is, that more people are coming! My youngest cousin, Jamie (mom’s side), is about to graduate from Chico. She called the other day, expressing interest, wondering if it was too late to make it happen. Somehow, and quite delightfully, I may add, she is going to make it happen. It’s a bit of a logistical twist, but it is going to work, and I am so proud of her, and excited for her, and thrilled that she will be joining me.

Apparently, as she was making the rounds telling the people important to her what her plans were, a friend of hers signed on as well. SO now there will be three of us volunteering together for three weeks (so far, one week in Phi Phi with hiphiphi.org, and two weeks with United Planet).

After the initial three weeks of volunteering, I will fly up to Bangkok to meet my cousin, Shana (dad’s side) and she and I will travel together for three weeks. We will take a side trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia for a few days, and then head back to the affected regions, and enjoy ourselves while spending as much as we can in the region (insert ‘thank you’ to donations here- you are all awesome). Also included will be a trip to wherever the students decide to donate the money they raise from their event, and perhaps some time to play with some of the children sponsored by those organizations.

What fortune this is, to be able to do this, to be supported emotionally and helped financially, and now to share the experience with my family. I can’t begin to explain how lucky I feel. When I think about this trip, sometimes I feel a twang of guilt- knowing that even though this experience is for the benefit of others- I am receiving so much.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Student Plan

April 29/30
So I told my students of my plans to volunteer in Thailand for the summer. I told them what I was already doing and what I had already done to raise money for my quest. I then asked if they wanted to be involved in something dealing with tsunami relief and the response was overwhelming.
Because the entire class wanted to be involved, I gave them complete control of the project. The only requirement was that the money had to go to an organization that would directly benefit tsunami survivors, not to organizations (as great as they are) that spread their funds to all of their programs. They decided they wanted to research that more thoroughly, and perhaps split funds among several organizations, or perhaps find a specific school or hospital in need for me to bring a direct cash donation. They were able to momentarily put that on the back burner in order to get to the planning process; the big question- how are we going to raise money?
This time, they had only two requirements. One was safety. For example, they could not go door to door. Secondly, because they are minors, they had to have permission from their parents for any after school activity.
Originally, I had allotted an hour for the discussion. They chose to take two hours, completely focused on the activity at hand. My students accomplished much more than I anticipated.
After discussing several possibilities, hey decided to combine a few of the suggestions. The end result was a rummage sale, selling their own unwanted items, as well as inviting others to donate to the cause. They also wanted to sell food and drinks, as well as craft packets at the rummage sale. At the same time, they want to have a car wash for those that are shopping at the rummage sale.
A step I may have overlooked in excitement, they had already covered in their small group discussions, advertisement. One student has a connection with a local sign making company, and another has a connection with the local newspaper.
Finally, when we regrouped and outlined the plan, the students recognized that we also needed permission to use the school, so they needed to write a personal proposal.
This is what it said:
Dear Mr. Lorenzen,
We would appreciate it very much if you would consider our proposal for our class to have a rummage sale/car wash. We were hoping we could have it at the school’s field and parking lot.
If you accept our proposal, we would like to talk to you about dates for it with you. We will be making and handing out fliers hopefully soon. There will be a group washing cars while parents and kids look around the sale space.
Our class recognizes that the tsunami caused a lot of damage and we want to help repair the lives that were affected by the tsunami waves. We are going to research where the money is going to be donated. Rebecca will be traveling to donate the money to the organizations we decide on. Rebecca is also going to give the money to the locals that need it.
In conclusion, the students of Rebecca’s class would like to have a special day to raise money for tsunami relief. We would like to use the field for the rummage sale and the parking lot for the car wash. – Rebecca’s class.

It’s a go

Mr. Lorenzen (principal) just came in to hear what the students had to say. They had agreed to keep it quiet until the proposal was complete. They read with enthusiasm and professionalism, and were met with the respect they deserved. Mr. Lorenzen accepted the proposal on the spot, and will return to tell us what dates are available.
This happened in a total of three hours from idea to acceptance. It makes me wonder what our government might look like if it were run by 8 and 9 year olds.