UCS juniors sponsor life changing community service project

A service project to help the area's homeless was not only widely successful for two Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies juniors, it was life-changing.

“It was not only fun to receive the donations and put them together, and it was great to know that these packages are going to someone who will put it to good use, but it encouraged me to look at opening a non-profit, which I never was in through my future,” said Eriny Gabriel.

Gabriel and Chase Britton have spent months working with their school’s key club and the local Kiwanis International Chapter to raise funds, collect donations and organize packages – collecting more than 360 products and blankets that were donated to the Pope Francis Center.

“I was happy to see our club together and make such a difference,” Britton said. “We wanted to make sure our project had not only a large impact, but was something that was engaging for our club.”

Gabriel and Britton organized more than 200 students districtwide in key clubs and National Honor Societies to prepare, package and deliver the care projects to community members in need.

The project grew out of the students’ research into a community through the Kiwanis International’s Youth Service Fund and the GLK-UAIS Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) requirement.

“We did research that showed that homelessness is a major community problem, and hygiene is a major issue among these members,” Britton said.

Their community service work well exceeded the 150 hours after-school activities that is required through the CAS project and represents a key part of the International Baccalaureate Programme.
CAS Coordinator Justin Spear said that the project showcased the outstanding leadership skills of the students.

“Chase and Eriny undertook the impressive task of writing their own grant, budgeting for every line item across multiple suppliers around the country and raising additional funds in conjunction with our sponsoring Kiwanis club,” Spear said. “Eriny and Chase both exemplify the best of the IB Learner Profile traits, and I'm incredibly proud of their dedication and leadership.”

Britton said that organizational skills and leveraging community organizations were key to their project’s success.

“We had to communicate with so many people and work through vendor delivery issues,” he said. “I met so many community contacts because this is such a big problem in our world. Working with these organizations was really learning opportunity.”

Gabriel said flexibility was also key to the project’s success as the students had to navigate through several obstacles, most of which related to working with vendors.

“Sometimes things don’t work out and we have to figure out a way around them,” she said.
Both students hope the project can continue after they graduate from GLK-UAIS.

“I was happy to see our club together and have fun working together,” Britton said.

Robert Monroe, Superintendent of Schools

Http://www.uticak12.org

Source: Utica Community Schools