SHOC Racing

Annually, my family an I travel to Yuma, Az to participate in the SHOC Racing golf tournament. This tournament raises money for the my uncle Oscar and his crew members to race in the Baja 1000 in Mexico. When we do arrive to the golf course in Yuma we already have designated jobs. This year I helped with sign in, passing their goodie bags and shirts/hats out and I was at the Caddy Shack hole with trivia and selling raffle tickets. During this experience I learned that I have the ability to sell all of the raffle tickets to the participating golfers. Also I learned that the Yuma community is very supportive of SHOC Racing; the owner of the golf coarse lets my uncle use their space for free for an entire day and also participates in the tournament. Communication is very important in this event which meant I had to talk with other adults in making sure there wasn't to much chaos. Using the communication skills I have learned with this experience I be more prepared when it comes to working with others in events.

By: Aly Poole

Summer/Winter Games

Although I did not mark this on my sheet this is my experience in helping with the games. This experience is getting to work with kids starting at the age 4 and adult 40 and older. I have to communicate with everyone. Usually when we arrive at ASU Prep we prepare the rings where the competitors compete. During this experience I learned I could communicate with others who don't speak English with hand gestures and the little Spanish I knew. I learned that that the Karate community is opened to everyone. There were competitors that traveled from Mexico, New York and all around Arizona that came to compete. Using the communications skills I have learned by taking part in these events is how to reason with others when they do not get what they want.

By: Aly Poole

Cheer Camp and Homeless Outreach (2 in 1)

Some of my volunteer hours came from something I did with the Cheer team. We had a cheer camp for K-8th graders, that go to our schools. We then split all the attendees in half. I was with the peewees. This consisted of girls from the ages 4-10. We had decided to teach them a lot of things that day. We started with jumps. Went on to 2 cheers. Showed them small stunts. Then ended with a dance. Throughout the entire time, it was really fun to see how the girls grew, and got better as we went along. I got to spend time with some of the purest souls, while I was giving up a Friday afternoon. But I loved it. It was rewarding in the sense of giving to some little girl, and knowing she probably wont say "Thank you", but she are thankful. I'm so glad I volunteered to do it with them, and look forward to doing it again.

Some other volunteer hours came from doing homeless outreach. My church does something called H.O.P.E., and every Saturday we go down to a building along 7th street, prepare tons of food, and homeless people come and eat. But what my church does a bit differently, is once we are done serving them, we all grab a plate of food too, and go and sit and eat with them. We are encouraged to talk to them. Ask about their story, how they are doing, and interact with them like they are normal people, coming over to your house for dinner. My church has realized that often time, the way we treat homeless people doesn't look all that great. We may be treating them well, but if we aren't engaging them and treating them like any other person, then we are not doing our job right, in helping them. Doing H.O.P.E., I meet all kinds of people that talk about all kinds of things, and act in so many different ways. Some people blatantly ignore you, some are rude, others are completely grateful, some are not and complain about the food provided, some tell you crazy stories about their lives, others tell you what a blessing you are to them. The list really goes on. But the point is to never act like we are feeding the homeless. Its to act as if we are feeding are fellow neighbors. Which is actually in the Bible. There is a parable about a man holding a banquet, and all of his guests who said the were coming, gave phony excuses not to come, so he told his servant to gather all the people in the streets, the "lower-class" people, and proclaimed that his old guests would not taste his banquet, because there were those who would truly appreciate it, and he could interact with at a human level, rather than a class level. I like to make the correlation between the two, because so often we do forget to treat others as humans, as opposed to their social standing or class.

So, I guess that wasn't a reflection on one single event, but every time I've done H.O.P.E., all put together, being reflected on, and analyzed.

Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat

This Halloween instead of trick or treating I decided to collect food with the Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat program (TTSOCE). I enjoyed collecting the mound of food I did and was very surprised at the willingness of the community to donate their food. Every single person's door who I stopped at donated food. I managed to fill a box (24"x10"x12") to the brim with cans and other non-perishables. Many of the people were very pleased at the fact that me and my group of friends had chosen to do this. Some even offered us candy still. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and I'd do it again.

Full box of canned food!

working in Santas workshop

last Friday I worked for five hours at the copper trails Santa shop.  What I did was I helped the kids put the presents they bought into bags.  I also help them put there names and who the present was for on the bags. I really in joyed helping the kids put bags on the presents. I don't think that there was one moment were the store wasn't busy the whole time I was at the Santa shop.

zach pederson

Halloween Management

On Halloween, instead on going trick or treating, I volunteered at my church's trunk and treat. I ended up spending the whole night running a schedule of performances of a skit. I ran around making sure that everyone in the skit had the supplies that they needed and that they were on stage for their performance at the exact time. Everything ran smoothly, but I was stressing out the whole time. I learned that I can manage people very easily, but I also stress out about every little detail when I am managing people. It was pretty amazing to see the crowd react to the performance though. It made me realize that the community doesn't care about all of the little details, it is about the message the skit portrays. As a leader in many different aspects, I have learned to not focus on the details so much, but to focus on the whole picture and take it for what it is.

Loving On Children No Matter Who They Are

Every Sunday from 8:30 to 10:00 for the past two years, I have watched, taken care of, done crafts with, and taught 2 and 3 year olds at my church. I have had the chance to leave a mark on these young children and ultimately, truly see what it is like to be a parent and taking care of children who are dependent upon you. I have definitely gained patience from this experience and have learned how to control my anger when my expectations aren't met by these youngsters. I have learned that I am someone that does not handle the things that children of that age do very well and their reactions to things either, but with working with children I have gained patience and have learned how to love on them unconditionally. I have also gotten the opportunity to care for foster children and have gotten to love on them and show them that they are not alone. I believe it has truly impacted my life the most, to see young children grow into outgoing loving toddlers. From this experience, I have learned that my community is a messed up place, but with love and care it can turn into something amazing and can build up our future to be better than our present. From what I have experienced from working with the foster children that I teach, I have now started going to group homes and visiting teenagers stuck in the foster system to let them know they are cared about.