I cannot believe the end of the NGC year is here!! It seems like yesterday that I was talking about how excited I was to meet all my knew teams. Being a mentor for NGC definitely lived up to my expectations. Meeting all of these inspiring, bright teenager and watching them go through the steps of planning events and picking projects was extremely fulfilling. Not only that but I know I will continue to keep in touch with many of the girls that are graduating this year, and am excited to see how they will continue to apply their passion for philanthropy and global issues. As the year draws to a close I wanted to review some of the teams main accomplishments!
Calabasas
1. The team managed to start a team from scratch and form a group of about 20 members that created some large scale events.
2. They planned a “”Dirty Water Pledge Drive”” day that raised over $800 dollars. The team filled up dirty water bottles and had people walk around with them for a day, an event that hoped to educate the school about the need for clean water in Malawi. Monique Coleman, star of High School Musical, attended the event and drew attention to it on her twitter page.
3. They sent out donation request letters that drew in over $4,000 dollars.
4. Asked members to send letters to their congress reps to support the Water for the World Act.
5. Held a “”Punch Global Poverty in the Face”” event in which they educated the school on ways to end world poverty.
6. Educated their club about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
7. Walked the 2011 Walk to End Genocide
….What more can anyone ask for???
Independence
Independence High School was faced with many many challenges, and as such was not able to plan as many events as the other teams. However I was impressed by their determination and ability to adjust to these challenges.
1. The team faced an administration that allowed little room for them to plan events. We decided together that they would first create three possible events/ plans and then take them to the administration. They would then start planning once the event was approved to avoid having members quit after becoming disappointed or exasperated.
2. Over 4,000 children at their school: We decided to have them gather a small group first through friends etc, that could then plan a couple small events and draw more people in.
3. Poor organizing: We created a time table and a list of things to do. Unfortunately most of these things did not get done or they hit road blocks when they tried
4. Events: The team tried to plan several events including an E-waste drive (didnt work out because they could not use the school parking lot and did not want to use a different one), a field trip to FLY (FLY did not approve it) , and an educational campaign of facts around the school ( the school said kids had previously burned down buildings by putting up signs so denied the request).
Accomplishments
1. They had a pop corn chicken tail gate event that raised funds successfully for their cause.
2. They also passed out some educational information and sold smores at a Winter Wonderland club event for their school.
3. Amanda Moore was extremely enthusiastic and inspired me with her determination. Every time an idea failed she came back with a new one and still tried extremely hard.
Irvington
Major Accomplishments
1. Recruiting a club of about 25 members through the use of signs (some very pretty ones) and announcements. At our first meeting with me and the girls we talked about different ways to recruit members and settled on advertising their cause through their school announcements and through flyers.
2. “Club Rush” fundraisers: a fundraiser during lunch when they sold Pesto Pasta. They held this fundraiser a couple times throughout the year.. The first one they raised around $80, the second one they raised $110, and the third one will be held at the beginning of June. These fundraisers the girls held on their own (and needed no help from me). They have gotten so good at them that they just do them regularly without much planning needed.
3. BJ restaurant fundraiser: The team put a lot of effort into this fundraiser and made flyers and passed them out at school, created a facebook event, and put out announcements. However they only raised about $40. I helped them by sending them our non profit status and explaining how non-profits work with other businesses to fundraise. I met shortly with them after the event (unfortunately I could not attend) and they seemed pretty disappointed, however we discussed ways they could improve next time, and overall I was pretty proud of them regardless of the low turnout.
4. Coins for Change: This event was by far their most creative and successful. The team went to their local elementary school and taught 3rd-5th about their cause. They then left boxes in each class and promised a pizza party to whichever class raised the most money. When we met we discussed ways they could make even more money, we decided that they should put in flyers into their daily envelopes they bring home to their parents asking for donations from their parents, and to make a regular announcement every week in class so that the kids didnt forget. They ended up raising over 2,000 dollars.
Gunn :
Accomplishments
1. Jar Wars: This is a Spirit Week event that Gunn hosts ever year where clubs can easily gain money by volunteering to count money in jars the grades fill up with change. They earned around $700 from this.
2. Dodge Poverty: This event Gunn has held for the past five years and has quite a reputation by now. It was a great success in my opinion. The kids that attended were extremely enthusiastic (even made shirts for each team) and over $900 dollars came from the event.
3. The girls are also planning a panda express fundraiser
Challenges
1. Recruitment: The girls constantly expressed their frustration that not many people would join the club, or would only join the club in order to plan the Dodge for Poverty Tournament and then quit. We discussed different ways to draw people in including flyers, announcements, etc.
2. The girls also wanted to volunteer at local Stanford Football games to generate money however they could not find somebody to chaperone for most of the games.
3. Gunn tried to tell the club that they could no longer fundraise because California has a new law not allowing a non-profit (the school) to transfer money to another non-profit (NGC). We sidestepped this by writing many checks directly to NGC, or by persuading the school that this was ridiculous.
Diamond Bar High School
Accomplishments
Overall the team planned several events that successfully hit all the FACE goals.
1. Halloween Grahams: The team filled little halloween pumpkins with candy and facts about their cause and then sold them for a dollar a piece. When I met with them we discussed how we could incorporate education into the project and they settled on putting in a fact into each pumpkin.
2. Tea Rush: They held a fundraiser at their local pearl milk tea shop that donated 10% of proceeds within a certain time period to their club. They made cute flyers that advertised the event around their school.
3. Call with Nicole Carta from World Action for Humanity: the team prepared questions for Nicole and were able to learn more about their cause.
4. The team created a blog where the educated about the effect of HIV/ AIDS
6. Awareness Week: here is a direct quote from Ava telling me about the awareness week, “Anyhow, each day that week, we set up a table in the upper quad with a big plastic container as our “donation box”, and we also sold HIV/AIDs buttons, and NGC silicone bracelet that we sold/bought last year. I don’t remember the exact number we made from selling these items but it was definitely successful. We also passed out fliers throughout the week with info about House of Hope and NGC–some fliers were just regular 8 x 11 paper, and others were folded into houses (there were flaps to open up and each flap had info, etc). We also went around to teachers to speak to them about our project and to ask for donations.This is also separate but some of the officers made a short 30 sec video about House of Hope/AIDS and it was played in our school’s weekly television show “the stampede”.
Challenges:
1. The team faced a sticky administration that forced them to get events approved weeks in advance, and sometimes made them do it twice. Many events, including their plans to show the movie Rent, failed because the administration changed their minds at the last minute.
Paly
Accomplishments
1. Getting a new team going and recruiting ten girls successfully
2. Raising significant funds through several bake sales and a Book sale at their local elementary school
Challenges
1. They attempted to start a coins for change but their plans were cut short when the teachers at the school did not cooperate
2. Paly at the end of the year refused to allow them to withdraw their money because the school claims it would violate a CA law.
Troy
Accomplishments
1. Raised funds through international week, bake sales, and fundraising letters
2. Supplies drive that raised hundreds of supplies
3. Had members that volunteered at SOW
The team seems extremely happy with their results!!
Oxford High School
Accomplishments
1.”Silent vigil”: A week where they cover school in facts, chalked the school, decorated windows, put up posters and put up signs knocked into the grass
2. “Walk for hope”
3. Car Wash
4. Another awareness week with lunch time activities and a movie screening
5. Their “Band Aid” benefit concert featuring youtube bands
Challenges
1. Keeping a team of 35 kids involved
Lick Wilmerding
Accomplishments
1. Fundraisers: decorate boxes and fill them with candy to sell
– sold friendship bracelets that were school colors (LickStrongs) at rival basketball games.
– a booth at the school service carnival
Foothill College
Challenges
– Retaining club members in school where kids usually only attend for a maximum of two years and are constantly leaving after one quarter
– Finding an advisor
Accomplishments
– Raised around $700 through various fundraisers
– Educated at least 600 people at Bay to Breakers
Overall I am SO PROUD and impressed by my teams and all they have accomplished. I am also extremely excited to return as a mentor next year and see what else these teens have in store for us.
Cat
New Global Citizens 