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Camp Arroyo

On the 28th and the 29th I went to a camp in Livermore called camp Arroyo. Being in the group FIERCE which is a subgroup of the non-profit organization called LEAF, I was invited to attend this camp for free!! The camp was paid for by EathTeam and stopwaste.org. This camp was a big eye-opener for me, and I feel that it is my duty now to repay them by doing whatever I can to help save the earth around me. The people who I met there were much more than environmentalists, they instantly became my family.
When I arrived I was kind of nervous. I was directed to my cabin and unpacked. I hanged out there until the rest of my cabin arrived. Thankfully I knew most of them already, and those who I didn’t know I became fast friends with. We went down into the dinning hall to check in. On the wall were some lists of environmental workshops that we could sign up for. We filled out a name tag and then sat down at a table that matched our randomly assigned number that was given to us. We played an ice breaker game and introduced ourselves to the others at the table. Everyone from my table came from Fremont, and we all just happened to like Disney, Harry Potter, and Pirates on the Caribbean. Then we went on a small hike around the camp while being flooded with interesting facts. They did not have to cut down many trees to build the camp because a long time ago there was already an existing place there. The camp used to be an isolated facility for people with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that involves the lungs and is highly infectious, but when a cure was created for it there was no longer a need for the camp and it was torn down. When camp Arroyo located that area to build the camp on they went through a careful and detailed process to make the camp environmentally friendly. All of the buildings there were made from recycled material. The walls were insulated with hay and the windows and vents were carefully designed so that there is no need for a heater or air-conditioning. The water in the pipes are heated by the sun and the pipes run underneath the cabin so that the floors get heated. The floors of the cabin are made from left over ash that got mixed with cement to create concrete. Next we had lunch; every table sent two people to get the food. The food there was created for vegetarians so every meal was mainly created from carbohydrates and cheese. Some of the food came directly from the garden, and everything that could be, was organic. For lunch we got the best tasting pizza I have ever had! There were some vegetables on top of the pizza like artichoke, and every meal came with a new type of salad which I also really enjoyed. After lunch we attended our fist workshop from 1:30-2:30. The choices basically came down to two options, either working with fungi or with worms. I chose the vermicomposting class which basically taught us how to use worms to decompose left over food. Once the food was then decomposed we could use the leftover material or “worm tea” to help our gardens grow. We learned how to create homes for them and how to prevent something bad from happening. The temperature they like the best is between 60-70 degrees, if it gets to hot they will try to leave. When giving them food to eat we have to remember that worms breath trough their skin so we cant give then anything to acidic. We also have to pretend to be vegan when giving them food because any product like meat or cheeses can attract rodents. After creating the homes and learning how to take car of them, we got to take some home to start one of our own. The next workshop I chose was a two hour class on urban farming. A really awesome dude from UC Berkley named Gary Rosenberg taught the class. All of the material he provided didn’t coast him a penny! He went around town and collected all of the materials that was junk to others but was our “gold.” In the class we learned how to make the best kind of soil. We put all kinds of things in it like horse manure, egg shells, rotten avocadoes, weeds, dog hair, and dead bees. He explained the cycle and said that even weeds are good because they soak up the sun, when they die they give those nutrients to the other plants. His saying is that nature grows in abundance. He said a lot of complicated words here and there so we could all tell he knew what he was saying. We transferred plants into our gardens and afterwards we had sun tea that came straight from a tree he had planted. If you want to learn more about what I learned you can check him out on you-tube it’s really awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMStyXKgsWs
I walked over to the other workshop which taught kids how to cook food using their garden. They had leftovers so we got to eat their vegetable stew as well. Afterwards we walked back up the hill and did some crafts and games. I learned how to croshay plastic bags into even cooler bags! We then had dinner of cheese enchiladas; we had an option to go on a night hike which I decided to go on. No flashlights were used and the stars looked amazing, plus you could hear those down at the campfire singing. We went down and joined the campfire and had smore’s. The next day we had freshly baked blue berry muffins and fruit. We listened to student presentations, wich talked about the projects that they were working on. 3 grouping including FIERCE got a 500$ state farm grant to reduce plastic usage. All of the students apply for grants themselves, if you write 50 grants you will probably win two of them. This shows how dedicated everyone is. Being in Fierce has shown me that anything is possible. (all of my pictures are on a disposable camera so I couldnt post them online)

Seed Art at the Eco-Faire!

So for my last blog post (and for the first time) it's not about the Tri-City Volunteer center, but it's about the eco-faire! On Friday, May 27th, we held an eco-faire at Washington High School on the front lawn of our school. So on Wednesday, Janel, Angela, Leo, Patricia, and I all met up at Angela's house to make the poster for our booth, which turned out quite well although it was last minute! We had two booths set up at the eco-faire. One was seed art, which is the booth I worked at for the majority of the time and the other one was boat making and racing. I was pretty much working there for half of first, then fourth, lunchtime, fifth, and sixth period. In the morning, I arrived at school at about seven o'clock in the morning. We set up our tri-folds and got everything ready. During fourth period, Laura and I had to make a store run to get some more glue for the seed art because we ran out. Working at the booth was really fun. I loved helping people make their own seed art, giving them instructions on what to do. During fifth period, however, there were these two freshman boys (I knew they were freshman because I asked them, I was not assuming!) were throwing the seeds everywhere! They were acting like such jerks and I got frustrated with them. They were so rude wasting our seeds. At first, I asked them not to do that nicely because I had to clean it all up and we needed to save the seeds for other people. They didn't care. After they finished making theirs, they gave it to Genesis and wanted a ticket from me. When they found out that they don't get a ticket for making seed art they got even more angry but eventually got tired of arguing and just left. I forgot to take a picture, but I don't think it matters much because I saw Mr. Speckles pretty much every period and I saw Mr. Shawn too. Overall, working at the eco-faire was fun. There were a lot of cool booths around and it was nice seeing what everyone made at our booth.

One Man's Trash Is Genesis and Josh's Treasure!

For my fourth post, I went to (surprise) the Tri-City Volunteers with (surprise) Josh Christy. This time HOWEVER we tryed something new. For the last three posts, we've been going in and working at the Community Pantry but this time we charged into the Treasure Trove thrift store next door. I, personally, looo(that's right three o's)ve thrift stores and was happy when the woman said she always has things to do and would love some help. At first she brought up the restrooms and Josh and I weren't feeling it as she probably could tell from our faces because she then brought up that there's little things around the store we could do to make it look more organized. Josh and I straight up transformed the entire back of the store. First, we re-folded all the blankets, towels, etc. like pros. Right when we finished, this woman comes out the cuts like "excu me" and handles some towels just to put them back. Now I know how it must feel for the girls at the mall whenever people come and rifle things. Much respect to those women because this was only the first time and I was glaring. Anyways, then we went over to the bookcases and organized those. There were so many good books there! For only 50 cents! I was overwhelmed. But while we we're straightening them up and whatnot, this cute little elderly couple was looking through the books, you should've seen my face they so were gliffin' adorable. The man was like "how about these? you like these right?" and she was like "no, I don't like those" and he was like "well how do you know?" and she was like "because I do" and he was like "maybe you will". Imagine them saying these in cute loud voices because after all they are elderly and their audition is degenerating. Then he brought up some woman and she was like, "I like her but I don't like her sister!" It was wonderful. There was a really nice couch and Josh was like, "only $30! I love a bargain!" and then some woman was looking she wanted to buy it and he was hurtin. After, we organized the shoes and just made the thrift store look like some high end boutique. We work wonders. Like I said, thrift stores and me are like this *imagine my fingers crossed really tight*, you can get a bunch of stuff for so little money! So I enjoyed working there for my last mandatory post. So go check out the Treasure Trove, and marvel at the professionally folded items, wonderfully organized books and VHS tapes, and gloriously arranged shoes. Don't thank us.. we do it for you *wink*.. for the community.

The End

It's our final time doing this project. Edwin and I are partnered up again and we went to the same place as before. Even though we done this multiple times already I still wasn't comfortable with singing in front of strangers. This time there wasn't as much people volunteering I think it's getting close to summer. Without that much people we actually have to try and sing the songs. We just kind of  mumbled the songs so the other people's voices would be heard. We went to many different rooms and saw different people this time. When we went to the cafeteria Edwin started playing the piano. People liked it and asked for more but Edwin didn't know any songs just parts. After we hit a few more rooms we then turned in our vests and left. I don't think that I will be doing something like this again because it is too much out of my comfort zone

CPC, But Now in HD!

Deep and myself talking about our latest experience at CPC that included a new, very important person. Shot in glorious high definition! Pics to come in the comment section.

OHS Part 4

the snake from a while ago that crawled through the fence.

    The last time I went to OHS was really fun. I was in charge of more than before. I saw how big and different the animals get. Tessa and Ally, that was the girls name i kept forgetting, came in after me. When I signed in, Angela told me to take care of the house finch from last time. It was in a bigger cage this time, and another house finch from last time joined it. I found out later the new bird wasn't new, it was the one inside the warm machine. The warm machine thing is where they put baby and sick animals and it's like temperatured. It took a while for me to feed them, the small one wouldn't open it's mouth and the bigger one wouldn't stop. It was the same thing with the crows from last time.
     Speaking of the crows from last time, i heard the smaller one didn't make it, I got sad after I heard that. Tessa and I went to the fly cages were the bigger crow was moved to. When Tessa was trying to feed the bird, she had to use a ladder that was already there to get up to where the crow was. I tried to feed it some little pieces of whatever was in the bowl, but it was having a hard time swallowing them. We thought it was to big for the crow so we just stuck with feeding it meal worms.
     Speaking of meal worms, Tessa fed it the last worm in the bowl, and asked me to get some more. Great, huh? So i went, and used the big spoon looking thing they use to take out the sand from the smaller meal worms, but it doesn't work for the bigger worms because they are in oatmeal. So i had to find another way to get them out. Ally told me to use tweezers and im like "ay". So i did, and filled the bowl with about ten or something and headed back to the crows cage. After giving Tessa the worms, I headed back to where the birds were because it was their time to eat again. Another 10-15 minutes trying to feed them, then i checked off their sheet marking that they have been feed. I also was told to clean their cage. And maaann, the poop alot, it's small poop, but it's a loottt. I picked the birds out of their cage and put them in a little basket that closed. I changed the news paper, and refilled their water. I put the grapes on a stick back where it was and replaced the birds.
     After that, Tessa asked me and Ally to help make the opposums food. We read the sheet and had some trouble figuring out what some of the stuff were. Angela helped us out. We got canned dog food, some fruit, this type of fish, and a mouse. The mouse was still frozen so Angela said to put it in later. We put the food and water in their cage and put on some gloves so we could put the opposums in  it too. They were really small, and kinda cute.. but not their tales, those looked kinda ...ok. My dad walked in to pick me up, and told him to wait a second. We each put in one opposum in the cage by their tail. It wasn't that hard, but they would let go of the towel, so one help the opposum while someone else tried to pull the towel away. I think the day went well.  I said bye, signed out and left.

One Last Time

For my fourth and final mandatory post, I went back to the Tri-City Volunteer Center, but there seemed to be a surprising lack of volunteers this time. I went with Casey, Patricia, and Angela, and Brooke met us there. When we got there, things seemed really slow at first, and had almost nothing to do. Later, things got more hectic, but we did not do jobs that we would typically do when we volunteered there, like packaging potatoes. We started off cleaning a bit while Casey went to the front desk to help Stephanie. Brooke, Angela and I were busy sweeping and mopping the floors while Patricia was packing lunches for the homeless. After we finished with the sanitary work, we went to work preparing carts to go out to people's cars. Each cart required a loaf of bread, some dairy product, potatoes, lettuce, parsley, and a dessert. Once we received a card with a person's name on it, we would take turns bringing them out to help load the items in the trunks of the cars. Things began to slow down again, so I helped Patricia pack lunches, and was later joined by Angela. While we packed lunches, Patricia told us about the boy she was working with earlier, who was only thirteen years old and already involved in a gang. We continued packing the lunches until closing, but we saw that more people started coming at the last minute and we all decided to stay a little longer to help the workers out. We all kicked it into overdrive to get the orders out as fast as possible so everyone could go home. None of us minded the extra time at all and were actually willing to stay a little longer to help clean up to reduce the work required by the employees. After volunteering there so much, I feel like I would not mind going there to volunteer for extra hours, despite the admittedly boring jobs and sometimes tedious work.

Out with a Bang

For my last post, I planned to volunteer at Tri-City. However, that didn't work out for two reasons. First, everyone went there. Second, I got too busy during the week. So I ended up doing what I did the last 3 times. Furry Friends Rescue. This time though, it was different. I got there like I usually did and everything seemed normal. Then I realized there was a lot of other volunteers. And by a lot I mean like 8 other people. After I set up, I felt something and excused myself to the little boy's room. After I finished my business, I came out and saw everyone was already sitting with a dog. It was then that I was told that they had no work for me that day. At first I got excited that I wouldn't have to do anything, but then they told me I couldn't go home yet because they wanted to make sure no other foster homes dropped off their dogs. For half an hour I just sat on a fold-out chair listening to music until they finally let me go. So I guess not going to Tri-City worked out for me in the end since it let me get off the hook from working. Although it may not be the most "moral" decision, I still have to volunteer there because I made a commitment or something like that.

Tri-city

For my last volunteer experience I went to Tri-City again. I tried to volunteer somewhere else and it was to feed the homeless in San Francisco, but I realized that I could not make it the times they had available. So again it was back to Tri-City, we did something similar to what we did last time which was packing food into bags for people. Though we finished a lot of bags so some of us were told to help out the thrift store a little bit. When we went back to the thrift store I was hoping that I wouldn't have to vacuum the store like last time. This time we had to sort some clothes into piles, which was not very entertaining,but it was kind of cool to see the clothes that was being donated. Then the lady that worked at the thrift store asked me to clean the break room. Cleaning the break room didn't take to much time and soon enough I was finished with cleaning and all my hours. Doing this project was a great thing for us to do, because it really did help us learn about what others don't have and what we do. It puts things in perspective for us and really appreciate what we do have.

The Last One

I'd say that over all this project was more fun than I really thought it would be. Especially when I'm Bagging onions or potatoes with Javier Saavedra for about 2 hours. We went back to The Tri-City Volunteer Center. Its pretty crazy hearing that mostly all the kids who were there and didn't go to Washington High were in there for charges like possession of something bad or was atleast charged with something.

Javier and I had the usual routine that day, starting with signing in, wearing thoe neon green or yellow vest and getting a pair of latex glove. We already knew what to do with out asking the people who worked there. Bagging bread, onions, and potatoes or sweeping the floor. Javier and I voted on just bagging bread. The whole hour and a half flew by so fast. I was so glad that I finished this Equity Project with ease.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

Video Podcast (Part One): http://youtu.be/sZXuFZes49E

Part Two:

After more than half an hour, all of us felt accomplished at whatever we were doing. Whether it be sweeping or mopping the floor, packing or distrubing carts to the needy. I went to Stephanie and asked her if she needed help with anything and she told me to clean the windows. For about five minutes, I sprayed and wiped the windows inside and outside of the building. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a fun job. As soon as I got done I went to Stephanie again and asked her if there was anything else she needed help on. She replied saying that lunches were needed to be packed for the homeless so off I went and started packing with another volunteer.

The other volunteer who helped me pack lunches was Eddy (or something like that, I forgot his name haha). We started talking and I asked him the usual questions such as where he goes to school, what grade is he in, etc. When I had seen him earlier, I already jumped to the conclusion that he was a junior or senior because he was very tall and built. However, his answers to my questions surprised me... He told me that he went to Robertson and that he was only THIRTEEN. After finding out how old he was, I asked him why he was doing community service and his response shocked me even more than the past ones. He replied by telling me that he got in trouble in school because of possession of weapons and gang-related issues. Hearing this from a thirteen year old definitely made me think about certain things. First, I couldn't believe that someone as young as him is already affiliated with gangs and is able to possess weapons. I would hear about and see young kids that are in gangs but I never got to talk to one until now. This interaction made me realize that you would never expect what kind of people you'll encounter anywhere. When I started volunteering at Tri-City, I never thought that I'd be meeting different kinds of people that did community service for different reasons. This time was very special from the rest of times that I've volunteered. It made me see a whole new perspective of how these community service places really worked.

internship Cont.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been at a family and cosmetic dentistry with Dr. (Ria) Vaishali Bhavsar. By now I’m getting use to the things that need to get done and to the people there. Some new tasks I had to do were to check patients folders to see if they needed any consent forms to be signed, or if the dentist need any more progress notes to be put in. I have also had to clean the rooms, and call the patients back into the room, and prepare them to see the dentist. I feel like I have earned Dr. Vaishali’s trust because she gave me the keys to her car, I had to go get some boxes. Some other thing is that I had to do, was to go throw out the trash, and open mail. Personally I don’t mind doing work, I’ve learned how to do a little bit of everything I can be helping in the front desk, in the back cleaning and preparing things or I can be assisting. I’m very thankful with Dr. Vaishali for giving me an opportunity to help out in her office and also because she wants to hire me after I’m done doing my internship.

WHS Car Show

For my third volunteer experience I decided to do something that actually associated with one of my classes, it was to help at the 8th annual Washington High School Car Show. Every year for the last seven years Washington has put on a car show in the senior parking lot. Some people may wonder how it is a volunteer experience in the first place since car shows raise money but this one is different. Instead of money we raise canned food and give it to an organization when its all over.
My job at this event was to help set up the stage and the awnings for the individual stations. After all of this stuff was done and set up I was able to enjoy the different stations and win some of the stuff that was being given away. However i still had to watch the cars to make sure no one messed with them and pick up garbage during the whole thing, being a worker. Then at the end of it all i also had to help take everything down and put it away, which was easier than putting it up.

Finally.

Last Thursday, I forgot to talk about my last day of volunteering, so this is making up for it. For my last day, me and the crew went back to Tri-City Volunteer (again). By this point, I was just like, "Whatever, it's the last day, why not just end it over here". So Leo, Patricia, and I got a ride from Casey, met up with Brooke at the parking lot, and went to work. We entered the building, signed in, put on our snazzy vests, and went straight to doing the job task we left off from the previous day. We began putting different foods into carts and baskets, and whenever a slip came from the office, we distributed the food to the people outside. Even though it was the second day doing this job, I felt used to it. We did this for 10 minutes, when Stephanie (the lady from my first day) came in and gave us new jobs. She wanted us to sweep (exciting!) and then mop the floor so the place would be clean. Patricia, Leo, and I went sweepin' on, while Brooke followed Stephanie to get mop things. While sweeping the dirty floor, the radio was blastin' and this one song that went, "JAM ON IT, JAM ON IT". And of course, Patricia was singing along to it, totally messing up the lyrics, when the guy who ran the place was like, "BONUS POINTS IF YOU KNOW WHO SINGS THIS!"...none of us knew, we aren't that old. Apparently some group called, "Newcleus" sang it, and yes, I'm listening to it right now while typing this. Well, we continued sweeping; I swept from the door, all the way almost to the thrift store room. While sweeping there, Brooke was having some technical difficulties (nah, she was just tired), and asked me to take over; and 5 minutes of doing it, it wiped me out too. Who knew that mopping was so tiring?! (I give props to the janitors). What was really messed up though, was that after I mopped a certain spot, some kid who was carrying eggs dropped one and it splattered all over the floor. "Gee thanks, man", I thought. I mopped up the spot and after doing it for a while, a kind volunteer that was working with us told me he would take over (GOD BLESS YOUR SOUL), and so I went back to distributing food. But after a while, there weren't any slips coming from the office, and I noticed that Leo and Patricia were doing another job; so I joined them in packing lunches which consisted of two sandwiches, a bag of crackers, a milk pouch, and a donut. We did for the remainder of the day; the clock striked 4:15 and we began to sign out, when a whole bunch of slips came coming through! We were about to leave, but turned back and thought, "We need to go back, they need help" and proceeded to distribute food until the last costumer was satisfied. The guy in charge thanked us for staying late and asked if we were returning; we were planning to, but unfortunately, we couldn't the next day. I felt kind of bad, but I remembered that we could always drop in. I thought that the last day was really productive; it ended on a good note that the "boss" wanted us to return. Even though I didn't find another organization to volunteer at, I'm used to working at that place and I don't mind the jobs they put us in; just as long as I'm enjoying it and giving back to the community.

Precious Dental Care

I’m doing my internship and volunteer hours at a dental office. The thing that made me feel better was that I wasn’t the only one doing my internship there. I go there every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday after school from 3-6 and on Saturdays from 8-5. It’s a good experience I’ve learned new things. The first time I went in I was at the put at the front desk, pulling out, and filing back patients charts. They also made me look at the whole weeks schedule and look at every single patient that came in for an appointment that week. By doing that I had to figure out if we “build” [made money] of that patient. As the days went on my experience became better because every day I learned and did something different. I swear I don’t think I ever put on so many gloves in my life, I felt bad because I felt that I was just wasting the gloves. But it was okay because the staff members told me that it was to be done, that for every patient new gloves had to be worn. Soon I was in the back: cleaning and setting up the trays, sterilizing [cleaning] the instruments, transmitting the x-rays into the computer, and finally assisting the dentist with cleaning [suction]. The first time I was going to assist I was nervous because I didn’t have any experience with that. Now I’m use to it, and it’s what I like to do the most. This is an opportunity I didn’t think would happen, but I’m glad that I’m helping in some way or another in making people’s teeth better.

Chill

Another day at Tri City Volunteer. But for some reason this one seemed different. It just seemed chill. Maybe it was because we knew what we were doing. Maybe it was because the knowledge of it being the last one soothed us through it. Whatever it was, it was better.

We started the day a little early and beat all the other high school kids we usually saw there. We put on our green vests like old pro's and walked out to the familiar potato smelling room. Without having to ask what to do we got to work bagging potatoes for a little while and calmly let the people standing around take over the bagging of the spuds. We walked over to the mops and began the necessary job of cleaning the floor. Without even realizing time had gone by we were told they were shutting down. Wow. That was fast.

This experience was so much better than all the rest and it makes me glad I volunteered. We passed the phase of being new and not knowing what to do, then we passed the stage of boredom, and finally moved on o doing hard work and feeling good about it. This is what volunteering should be.

Last Days at Tri City - #4

At first it was a little tough, the whole project especially with term papers and other various projects due, my group and I who had joined me had pulled through the tedious tasks of Tri City Volunteer's potatoe/onion baging. Now as the Reaching for Equity project comes to an end i realize some key elements I learned just volunteering there, like never take anyting for granted, be very patient, and help others.

It was almost like a regular day working at Tri City Volunteer except, it was the last day. We thought we would have had some crazy last job to do but, really it was a chill day. We baged potatoes and onions what felt like hours (really 20 minutes). The boss there on the main floor then asked me to grab a mop and start moping the back half area. I started working on it after the first half of the place was done the other person had finished the front area. Then back to filing the carts with huge brown bags of food. It was almost time to leave, which meant we needed to clean up the stations and the floors. So various people with brooms started going at work on the floors. Others cleaning the tables and finally finishing the final hour and half of our Reaching for Equity Project!! :)

Tri-City Volunteer #4

As this project is coming to an end, I have learned a lot from my experience working at the Tri City Volunteer center. I learned to not take the stuff I have for granted, because there is a bunch of people out here in our community that are less fortunate, and need the stuff we get that we can care less about.

To wrap up the reaching for equity project, I once again returned to Tri City Volunteer. Today I was expecting to do the same task I've been assigned to do for the past 4 days of working here, and that's exactly what I did. Although this time, I wasnt lost and I knew what to do and when to do it without being told what to do. I had to take initiative! After entering the facility, I signed in and put on the neon green vest with the name tag that says "VOLUNTEER" I immediately went to the potato/onion bagging table and began bagging. I'm not even sure how many potatoes/onions I bagged, I just kept going - bagging and tossing it behind me into a huge barrel. After that, I realized that the work space was extremely messy, So I decided to clean up a bit. I grabbed a broom and dust pan and cleaned as much as I could. After that, I was getting pretty bored with what I was doing, so I decided to deliver food to the people who are in need of it. I would push out carts of food loaded with, juice, bread, fruits and vegetables out to the front of the facility and give it to the people who demanded it. Did that for a while until the volunteer center closed.

And that's how I helped out my community :)

A Near-Death Experience at the Tri-City

On Thursday, May 19th, Brooke, Patricia, Angela, Leo, and I went to the Tri-City Volunteer Center again. This place is getting really tiring! When we first got there, Patricia, Leo, and Angela filled up the carts with the amount of food needed while Brooke and I ran it out to the people who were waiting. The people waiting outside were so nice! After about 20 minutes I decided to go into the office area to help file cards because there were no more carts to run. My job in the office was to ask for each person's ID and try to find it in the filing cabinet. It's a lot of hard work especially since there are thousands and thousands of cards in there and a lot of people have the same names, or different addresses as the one listed on their ID! Plus, it's really hot and stuffy in the office. One woman, whom I was helping, got really mad at me, however. I was trying to find her mom's card because she was picking it up for her mom. She was really impatient and irrational. She rushed me and so I ended up just writing her a new card, but she got even more mad because she "had other things to do" and "had to go". After I finished her card, I gave Leo her slip to run out a cart of food for her. He came back and said she was rude too, it was quite ridiculous and I was extremely happy when she left! After that, I was trying to work fast because there were a lot of people waiting. When I opened the top drawer of the filing cabinet, it fell on me! Well, almost! I caught it, but it was really heavy and scary because the clock and other stuff on top had fallen off and I thought I lost one of the client or customer’s driver’s license. It was a "near-death experience". I love working in the office and pushing carts out because I get to see people and talk to them. A lot of them are really nice and it’s so cute when they finally get their food. I love assisting others and while maybe this isn't the best place to go, it works for now! It makes me feel like a much better person when I'm helping out my community. Although this place gets tiring, I would definitely come back to this place.

Blog Post #4

Finally this project is coming to an end. Over the course of it I have to say has been pretty fun. For the last post I decided to stick with wildlife. Except this time it was a totally different experience, instead of doing a club and helping out the college leaders. I got to do a car wash. So every year the organization Younglife puts on a free car wash to help kids get to camp. A lot of the kids that come to the program don’t come from the most privileged families. So when time comes around to go to camp during the summer a lot of kids can’t go because of money issues. So we put on the car wash and accept donations from people to help kids go to camp. So this experience was really different than the other time. It was a lot more getting down and dirty. We washed a bunch of cars and raised a bunch of money for the kids. When summer comes around there are goimg to be a lot of happy kids.

Roses? For Me?

I went back with Jennifer to the Tri City Volunteers for our last time. This time wasnt as interesting because we just cleaned. They didnt have much for us to do this time because supposedly this volunteer crew came in and did everything there was to do. First the lady had me clean windows while Jennifer vacuumed. I dont like vacuuming so im glad she did that part. Then we waited around some more until they had us clean this desk. This desk was very dirty. There was like goo stuff caked on the surface. Its okay though, i had a scrubbing tool! The sponge smelt really bad. I think it was the water and solution stuff we had to use. Anyways when we were done with that the lady told Jennifer to sweep and our other friend, Monica, to mop. Fun. At this point the cleaning was all done so i was able to go out and five the baskets of food to the cars. I actually enjoyed this because well, im obviously not into cleaning. I took the little piece of paper with the number on it and found the person outside. I helped them put the food into their cars. The people were so nice! They all thought i was so nice for helping them load the bags into the trunk. Some people asked me if there were cetain kinds of bread or pizza or cakes. I felt bad when they didnt get the 'goodies' they wanted because it was like you take what you can get. I would hate that if i couldnt get what i absolutely wanted. Im glad i can get cake or pizza if i want too. So that made me feel bad when i couldnt give them what they wanted. At least these people were getting help and getting food here. After about five cars, it was time for us to leave. Before we left we were able to pick out roses for free! This was cool. I picked out red ones for my mom. They were in really good shape. After all the cleaning and helping people we left and i can say i had fun volunteering at places for our final project.

Coaching...again.

So Sean and I finally found a place where we could go back and volunteer for a second time. The first couple of volunteer opportunities we had were a one time thing so we had to keep finding different places to go. The third time, we went out and coached a little league team that a coach I used to have was in charge of. We both had a pretty good time and it wasn't inconvenient for either of us so we decided we wanted to go back and help again. We called the coach back and found out their practice schedule since we forgot to ask about it last time we were there, then we picked a day that was good for both of us and went.

We got there just on time and got right back to what we were doing before, which didn't surprise me at all. (Because pretty much every baseball team I've been on does the same thing every practice.) We got out the same equipment and waited for them to warm up. Again, we helped with getting baseballs in the outfield when they were hitting. We also helped out by cleaning up the dugouts a little bit, which we didn't do last time. The whole experience was good for me because I was in an environment that I'm comfortable in so it wasn't a big deal. If we had to do another blog post, I think me and Sean would come back and volunteer to coach again.

Last Day?!?!

Today Britney and I got to the Don Edwards Refuge around 12:30. Of course I drove :P. We went early to set up everything for the event. We set up the tables and had to hang a banner, well more like tie down the banner. It was for the Endangered Species Poster Contest that the refuge puts on every year. When putting up the banner Mark taught me how to do a blood knot. After practicing five times I finally got it!! Thank goodness. And we had two activities set up for the kiddies. One was making a clapper rail and the other was creating a salt marsh harvest mouse. Both are very endangered species. Britney and I basically worked with the little kids making the clapper rails just because those demanded more precaution. All the little kiddies were very excited to color the bird picture and cut it out so Britney and I could help them put it together. All of them did a great job and made some of them very very colorful. And after that activity had calmed down the kids went on a walk through the marsh to learn some information. And Ryan had finally gotten to the refuge to help. So since all the kids were out on their walk we went and took a picture on the air boat together. When we were walking to the air boat we witnessed fence lizards doing push ups. That was cool because Ryan and Britney had never seen it before. And after we took pictures on the air boat we started taking things down. So we took down the steps to go into the air boat and then we went back to the visitor center. We put together all the supplies and and took them down stairs. And I wasn't allowed to lift any of the tables so I took the chairs down stairs and then Britney and I took the banner down. And after that it was 3:30 and time to go home! It was an awesome day getting to hang out with the kids who drew the posters and talk to them about the environment. :)

"Anything Else?"



I don't know how to rotate it...





Today for the final two hours of community service, I met up with Britney and Kate at the Don Edwards Wild Life Refuge. The refuge was holding a poster contest for elementary school kids. They had drawn pictures of endangered species and were also required to answer questions about their animal. Unfortunately, I missed most of this because I had a soccer game and ended up arriving late to the event. But, I was still able to help out when I eventually showed up. I joined Britney and Kate at the arts and crafts table and helped some kids make harvest mice and clapper rails (a bird) out of paper. I was surprised that the mouse was actually fun to make and that it looked nice; usually arts and crafts can be really lame, but this was not the case. I thought it was a good idea because not only were the younger kids able to do something, but they could take something home that reminded them of the endangered animals in the Bay Area. I find that the best way to remember things are either writing something down or having an object that triggers a certain memory. Having their paper mouse or bird at home can allow these kids to keep in mind that there are animals in our community that need help being preserved. Not only can they remember this, but also they can remember that they have the power to make a difference.

Besides helping a little bit with crafts, I mainly did my part by helping clean up. It was the least I could do for not being there for the first hour and a half of the event. So, I helped clean off all the tables and then carried them down the stairs to put them away. After that I did whatever was needed and went around asking if I could do anything else. I felt bad because I did not do that much, while many people were there most of the day helping out. But as we were closing up the building, a park ranger said, “It sure is nice to have all this help.” This brought me to the realization that a lot of the times it is the little things that matter. While I was thought that moving only five tables was not doing much, the rangers were very grateful for it. I remember when Kate was helping a little boy make a paper mouse and how the mom thanked her after because while it may not seem like anything special, Kate was giving up her time to do this and it did not go unnoticed. Sometimes just showing up to things can be all the difference. This is because in doing so you are devoting your time to others, and that is what’s important.

"Heres a crayon, go have fun."

So today I went with Kate and her mom up to the refuge at coyote hills where we got the chance to volunteer. We arrived there not really having a set plan on what we were going to do but we did get help from another volunteer we saw heading up to the community center. That lady told us to go ahead and help her with the arts and crafts table so, we went ahead in did that. As we went into the community building we were lead upstairs to the arts and crafts area. We were then told by that same lady to go ahead and help set up, we did just that. First this guy actually needed help putting up a sign on the patio. It was very windy so it was difficult to put it up but we managed with fishing line and strong knots. After we set up tables, covered them with paper and took out scissors, crayons, lots of paper, and the activities themselves. There was two different activities in which the kids would be doing today; making a marsh harvest mouse and a clapper rail bird. Me and Kate were at the station where we had to make clapper rail. Before we worked and the little kids would arrive, I was given a shirt to be shown that im a volunteer and also had to fill out some paperwork as well. after that, the kids were running upstairs ready to do activities. What we did was let the little kids have there crayons and color whatever which way they wanted then after they finished that long period of time coloring we would poke holes on certain parts of the paper so they could make the wings move and feet. then they'd stick in pins to hold it all together. For me it was sort of frustrating because the table was awfully crowded with little kids trying to color whatever which way they wanted and would hog them all and then other kids will start to whine a little bit. but i managed to keep up with their speediness of wanting their bird finish after they've colored so i give myself a pat on the back for that. After a while me and Kate really got the hang of it and breezed through helping every kid cut, color and make holes in the paper for them. I find today a really fun experience working with little kids. they can be a pain and sort of awkward and really cute too.

Help One Another

A time like no other, it was. I volunteered again as a tutor for elementary kids. This time it was different because I met the smartest little boy I’ve ever met. Usually people ask for help when they need it, but this little boy just wanted to learn more.  He asked me all sorts of question like, “Why is there pollution?”, “why are humans the only animal capable of making technology?” and so on. It was interesting that a little boy wanted to know so much. What surprised me was that he knew his multiplication table all the way to 16 by memory  and he’s only nine. I was like “Wow ,and  I barely know mine up till twelve”.

            Anyway being a tutor is so awesome because you get to interact with others that want to learn and being able to help just stains my heart with glee.  This past few volunteering days were awesome and I look forward to doing it again. It makes my day seeing the little kids smiling after I’ve helped them. When  I was little no wanted to help me, not only does it make my day after I’ve helped them but it also makes me want to cry because I was able to do what no one ever wanted to do for me. If anyone ever ask for help from you say “I’ll do what it takes to help you” because what if one day you need help and no one wants to help you because you said no to them, what do you do then?

                                               

OHS Part 3

OHS Center, It's more interesting inside.

     I came back last Saturday to work again. I signed at 1:00, and asked if they needed help. David was there, the older one, and said yes, so my dad left and I got to work. I was slowly learning how to feed the animals that couldn't feed them selves. David was teaching me how to feed a little bird some meal worms. It was pretty hard, no lie. After a while I could get the worm in the birds mouth. At the end of the day though, a mastered it, almost.
     There were also these crows, one bigger one and one smaller one. The bigger one was starting to fly. The cage wasnt big enough for it to fly, but it would flap its wings once in a while and make a lot of wind when me and Tesse, a new girl I met, were feeding them. The big one ate bigger foods, like these huge worms, eehhhghlabbah.. and the little one had to be force fed. I didn't really learn that yet so Tesse did that. She's a senior at Mission. We had a great time working together.
     I also was in charge of feeding another bird, a house finch I think. David also taught me how to feed that bird too. It wasnt that hard, but when it opened it's mouth for food, it kept moving its head around so it took some time.
Tesse and I followed what it said on the birds sheets, and fed them on their schedule. Some were fed every half hour, some every hours, and others every two hours. I lost count on how many times Tesse and I fed them, but we did have a good time, and talked a lot. My dad came to pick me up. I signed out at 3:00, and said bye to my new friend.

Tessa**

Smiles mean alot

On Saturday, Chris and I went to the the center again. A lot of people were busy that weekend so there were only a few people volunteering. Chris and I didn't have the usual barriers that could shield us. My mom handed us a booklet with song lyrics and forced us to sing. We sang in low monotone voices so that they were masked by the singing of the adults. After singing in the hall, we followed routine and turned left into the hallway with the individual rooms. We didn't have to go in many because there were private family visits going on. Once in a while, they would let us in and the families would listen to us, too.We continued down the hall ways and entered every room that welcomed us. I remember going into one room with a lady lying on her bed. She looked so pale and fragile. I noticed pictures on the wall. There were many pictures of a beautiful woman in her 20s in long flowing dresses dancing. My mom told me that the girl in the pictures was the lady in the bed, 50 years later. We sang her 2 songs, one in English and one in Chinese because she wanted to hear a Chinese song. After, the sides of her mouth seemed to crack as she began to smile and tell us each individually how thankful she was to us. Soon we finished singing in the rooms. We went down the hall way all the way to the cafeteria. The rest of the volunteers were in the back walking very slowly so Chris and I went to the piano right outside the cafeteria. I started playing the beginning of my favorite song "Wedding Dress" by taeyang. Some people heard and asked me to play more, but sadly, the beginning was all i knew and i didn't really know how to play the piano. Soon after we finished our rounds, and we left. I have no idea if i will return to this establishment in the future but i'm sure if i do return, ill bring smiles to many people's faces.

Squeaky Clean!

Tri-City Volunteers is a very good place to volunteer at because it is local and they have a great food pantry for their clients. The people there are so nice and they love that we are helping them out. The day before we volunteered, there was a huge volunteer team that helped Tri-City so there was nothing major to do. So we ended up doing small little tasks. Starting with sweeping up the place. My first job was to take a broom and sweep all the dust and access trash off the ground. There was so much to sweep since the volunteer team cleared the place out and the ground was all messy. After the whole place was swept, we then vacuumed carpet and cleaned the windows of the lobby. It looked spotless when we were done. Back to the warehouse, we had to clean tables and counters with sponges and some soap. It was really grimy, so they gave us really strong disinfectant to do the job. We managed to do that really fast so we were waiting for a while for another job to come up. The manager was scrambling around looking for something we could do. Then finally a lot of Tri-City's clients started showing up and they would make an order and we would pretty much go grocery shopping for them in the warehouse. They had a bunch of shopping carts and you fill them with potatoes, a bag full of beans and canned food, apple juice, and a lot of bread. Once the cart is full you take a receipt copy and go to the front of the building and call their number. We also offer to put their food items into their car if they want. After all the clients were gone it was closing time and we were done. Tri-City Volunteer never looked so clean when we finished and they were very thankful of us helping them out. Even when they had so many volunteers already they still appreciate anyone who is willing to help them out.

Kyle and Deep talking about their experience at CPC

Volunteering Stuff Entry #4

Work Time: 3 hours

Commentary
Amanda: I apologize for all the unnecessary transition effects. I just like making the videos pretty, or at least in my perspective. We tried to get more video footage of this day and if I recall, this was a really long day. It was our day off and we went at 9 and worked until 12. The weather was lovely and we had a pretty easy work day.

Michael:

Commentary
Amanda: I'm sorry for being so tired. We haven't been doing our video diaries right after the day we worked. So instead, we have been waiting until the week of the due date. I realize now that it's a mistake.

Michael:

"I'll Get Close but I'll Never Hit You!"

For my third time volunteering, I decided to go to Tri-City again with Angela. On our way there, I already expected for the both of us to do something we've done before. However, when we got there, we were given jobs that we haven't done before. We got there and we're told to bag potatoes. It wasn't bad but counting twelve potatoes and bagging them gets boring after a while. When we got done, a fellow volunteer told us to help load food into shopping carts. These carts included sliced bread, canned goods, potatoes (the ones that we bagged), desserts, and pasta. After loading these carts, one of us would take a name card and take a cart with us to give to the person that is on the name card. The first time that I walked out to deliver a cart, I was approached by an elderly Asian man and he asked me about his cart. I somewhat panicked because I didn't know what to tell him since it was my first time doing this job. But not too long after that, we were able to give him his cart and everything turned out okay. At one point, when we were putting desserts into the carts, we noticed that the desserts they gave out were very delicious. One of them was a giant vanilla cake and man, that cake went through an adventure!

So here's how the cake went through adventures. We put the cake in one cart along with the rest of the food and I had the honor to take it out to an elderly woman. When I was unloading the food into her car, she stopped me and began to take out certain things out and left the rest in the cart. The cake was up next to be put in the car and as I was about to put in the woman's car, she stopped me. At first, I thought she wanted something else but I realized that she really didn't want it. She kept saying, "Too much fat, too much fat" and I knew that they were probably on a healthy diet and eating a giant cake wouldn't be a good idea. I brought the cake back inside and I told everyone how she didn't want the cake and we all joked that if nobody wanted it, we'd take it! But it wasn't too long until someone else took the cake and they're most definitely going to enjoy it!

At one point when I was loading carts, one of the people in charge was driving this giant truck thing in the center and almost hit me. Or at least I thought he did (haha). He stopped and said, "Don't worry I won't hit you! I'll get close but I'll never hit you!" It made me laugh because he seemed to have a sense of humor and I didn't see that side of him the past couple of times that I volunteered. After almost two hours of loading and taking out carts to the needy, it was time to sign out. Overall, third time's the charm. We had new jobs to do and it was definitely better than the past jobs we've had to do. Good times, good times!

That one pile of dirt that never makes it into the dust pan.

Today I went to Tri- City Volunteer Center. I definitely had a good time but I was super embarrassed. I had the chance to meet some people when I gave them their food. Some people where very picky, others were very courteous and thankful. I felt so bad when we didn't have something they needed. I tried my best to talk to them and tell them to have a good day. One guy asked me, "So what did you do to get in here?" I said it was for school. He asked because most of the people are there for court ordered offenses. He said he ran a red light so he had to go. I felt bad because he needed apple juice for his baby but we didn't have any so Casey brought him some baby yogurt. We hoped that would be okay.

I had to mop and that was a challenge because I have mopped with one of those yellow buckets with the squeezer. The boss of the place came over and started to show me how to use it. He said I put too much soap on the floor. But I didn't know how! He was telling me I should wear sneakers and not flip flops. I definitely didn't know that was a rule. That guy left and another volunteer walked over and he TRIED to show me how to mop TOO. I was so frustrated and embarrassed! I asked Angela to take over so I started sweeping for her. Leo and I were getting angry with the dust pan because it was broken and the dirt kept missing the pan. We finally just started sweeping out of the door because we didn't know what else to do.

Overall today was super fun, but I was very mad with the mean boss. He made me feel stupid and he started to have attitude with me! I was sorry I never mopped before!!! That is my story!!

Here we go again.

Due to a busy schedule (MVALs) and a bit off slacking off, this third post is really late (I'M SORRY MR. SPECKELS). So for my third day of volunteering, me and Patricia went to...you should guess by now. TRI-CITY VOLUNTEERS. Whatta surprise. I guess the reason why a lot of people go there (as you can tell) is because you can just show up, and they give you an automatic job; and because there are super easy tasks. So when we showed up there, we went straight to signing in and putting on our lovely neon vests. We saw Casey and Leo there when we were looking for tasks to do. When we saw that there wasn't really much to do, we decided to go to the thrift store; but some lady led us back to the food bank and made us pack potatoes. Patricia, Casey, and I started packing potatoes for about 10 minutes while Leo was doing something else. Once we were done with our bags, we went looking for more things to do since we were so bored, and another volunteer told us to put different kinds of foods in baskets/carts so we can distribute them to the needy. I thought, "Finally! Something different!". They have these little slips of paper they give to us naming the things that the person/family wants; we put them in the basket and give them to the person who's waiting outside. We put canned foods, vegetables, dessert, bread, etc. When I first gave a cart to a lady, it was nice to see her reaction of getting food. Doing this for a while, I noticed that a lot of people were picky about their food! There was big cake in one of the carts, so Patricia and I went and gave it to this one guy, but he refused! "Shoot, if he don't want it, I'll take it!", we said jokingly. We do this for the rest of the day, and I have to say, this was finally the job I was looking for: reaching out into the community. Today was accomplishing because I didn't have to pack things the whole time I was there; I actually GOT OUT and helped part of the community and got the satisfaction of helping others.

Even though it was a good experience today, I'm getting tired of going to the same place every time I volunteer. I hope to find another place, maybe a school or organization, that not only focuses on the homeless and the needy, but the whole community.

So I had this accidentally posted on my Animation Blog for Mr. Briano I just realized... also instead of waiting to see If it was posted here first I deleted it.. so bear with me as I attempt to rewrite this literary masterpiece I have just destroyed.

Joaquin, Bryan, and I have been working on this project for some weeks now and decided the reason we don't like it is that we are volunteering at a place which is not sufficient to our capabilities or even our attention, yet we still went there that fateful Tuesday even though that bitter nugget of knowledge was lodged between our molars of knowledge. Even though we hated the place we trudged on through the mucky swamps of boredom and dread. We lethargically slumped our unwilling bodies into the office and painfully signed our names on our ticket to hell. We had already worked 4 hours here and now it was time for another 2. We dragged our feet toward the brooms and continued our normal job of slave work just dreaming about that moment we got to sign our names at the end signifying we worked our time. Soon after what felt like an eternity (30 minutes) we were asked to commit the phalange killing job... bagging potatoes. I am Irish and I officially hate potatoes. WHO NEEDS THIS MUCH POTATO? We must have filled about 500000000 bags of spuds and by the end and my fingers were ready to jump off my hand. When my torture finally ended I was relieved. But for some reason I felt guilt. Volunteering shouldn't feel like this. I should leave feeling good. I think i need to come in with a more positive attitude or maybe change places. Many people are volunteering here anyways I think they have enough help. We'll see where I end up and hopefully I can actually go to a place where I can feel good about serving my community!

Equity Post #3

For this time of volunteering I decided to do wildlife again. It was really fun this time around. Over the course of this project I have really built a relationship with most of these kids. For this club we had a game show night. The college leader in charge told all of the leaders to dress super crazy so we could make the kids feel more comfortable around us. When we got there, there was a bunch of stuff to be set up. Like inflatable fools. Set up food and a lot of other stuff just so that it is easier for the college kids to do there job and run club. There were a couple new people there so I had to show them around and what to do and how things work. This time was a lot more fun than the other times I think it is just because of the kids. They make it fun to be there. I am definitely doing this after this project is over.

Easter Egg Hunt

On Easter, Taylor and I helped an annual Easter egg hunt.

Helping out (not so much)

Edwin and I went back to the center again. We did what we did before, we washed our hands then put on the vest indicating we are part of the group. When we walked around we realized that there was a lot more families visiting this time. This was a good thing for us because this mean that there will be less people for us to sing for. Though I feel bad for the people who didn't have a family to spend their time with. After we sang for the people in their rooms we went to cafeteria where we started playing music on the CD player and people broke out dancing. This time it was a lot more fun because I didn't fell out of place because I knew what I was doing.

Wild Land Drills

Today, at our weekly Monday we met up with firefighters to help set up a wild land drill. Since the weather is going to get hotter and dryer, we went to a hill where we could practice these drills. They used a Type 3 engine, which is all wheel drive and is lifted, so it can go drive on not so trust-worthy terrain. We helped them set up, and when they finished the drill we helped them put it down. They pulled hose, and set it up to fight the "fire" around 1000 feet. They need so many feet of hose since on a wild land fire, the terrain and weather is always unpredictable. It could go up trees, or the wind could change directions, and go very fast.



These drills are vital to Fremont. With the Niles Hills, Mission Peak, Morrison Canyon, and Coyote Hill, we have some big places to cover. With the wild land season right around the corner, every little thing helps. Practicing for the real thing is a smart move. Since we usually don't have many warnings, we can't get rusty. The explorers are here to help the firefighters prepare for that, since potentially we could help on wildfires too.

Fresh Out of the Oven

Friday was my third time going to the Tri-City Volunteer Center. This might be my last time since it was kind of boring. I went right after school with my friend Joden Ulep from American High School. First, we went into the office and my friend filled out his papers because he was a first-timer. Normally, there are a lot of people there, but this time it was so "dead". There was almost nobody there volunteering except for the man that was in charge of the pantry (John). Aside from us two there were three other people. At first, we were bagging toilet paper. It was two rolls per bag. After we ran out of bags, we went to push carts out for the people who were waiting for their food. There were no more slips so we went to bag breads. There were all types of breads: brown, raisin, onion, French, sourdough, etc. We were told to just put any type of breads in there, as much as we could fit. We had to "break the bread" in order to fit it in the bag. A lot of the breads were really hard and stale. Some breads, I had to twist with all my might! My arms got really tired. And some of the breads smelled really bad, but some smelt really good! They even had breads bigger than my head! I didn't have a picture this time because I had no camera or phone with me. At the end, we swept up and cleaned the tables.

That New Book Smell

For the third post of the Equity Project, I went back to the Alameda County Library. I have not been able to go for a while, and was almost expecting to be reprimanded for my no-shows. Surprisingly, I was greeted warmly by Marta, the head of volunteer services at the library, and went straight into the work I would do for another two hours. Like last time, I had to process books, but this time I was able to process brand new books. While the process was similar, this time I had to also place a color-coded sticker on the side of the books that you see in the library. Something that I really appreciated about working this time around was being around new books. After Border's began to close down all over the Bay Area, no one has really been around a new book for a long time. I think the fact that the library began to process new books for people to enjoy was admirable since many people are switching over to ebooks like the Kindle or those on the iPad, and hardly anyone gets to enjoy the physical turning of a new page or the initial stiffness of the spine. I think the library is important in preserving a pastime that might be considered obsolete nowadays, since many future generations might not even experience the joys of holding an actual book, and I am glad to be a part of the preservation.

Third Times Not The Charm So Much..

For my third post, Joshua Christy and I went to (surprise) the Tri- City Volunteers. Josh and I felt like veterans already so we just walked in, put on our vests, and got to work. This time around, there was still a lot of people but none from our school so we were the only ones representin'. We did the same old, same old: bagging food, bagging cans, and suh-weeping. There was, like I said, a lot of volunteers that day like there has been lately so each activity was kind of short-lived, except for bagging cans which we did for a while. The creepiest thing happened actually. We were bagging cans, get a can of this, 2 cans of that, oatmeal, and a dessert. There was this man kind of telling people what to do so I figured "alright dude is in charge". But turned out he wasn't. He kept staring at me and I was like "please proceed to photograph me that picture will last longer". In my head of course. And he goes ".. that's where I saw you! You live at (insert my apartments' name here)!" I have never seen this man in my life. Imagine the thoughts I thought. I will be watching my back from now on. Afterwards, there was literally (pronounced licherally like Mr. Shawn says it) nothing to do so we were put to sweeping. Again the accurate duo strikes. We both felt that it was getting repetitive as we had feared so we weren't exactly sweeping ardently. *vocab word. It feels good knowing we're giving back but I feel we could expand our horizons and try other places. There's a lot more people volunteering at Tri-City nowadays, therefore, there is now more things being done and less for us to do when we show up late in the afternoon. So for our 4th post, Josh and I are going to find a new, exciting place and put in work. Watch out, world.

Coach Blanco

Over spring break me and Nick decided it would be best if we tried to help out with coaching kids in the little league. Nick made a few calls, calling many old coaches without success, but finally we received a chance to help out. The coach's name was Rob and he coached the kids at Mattos Elementary,  home of Centerville American Little League. We scheduled our visit on the last Saturday of spring break and once we got there we went straight to work, helping in anyway possible.


We were kept pretty busy while there. One of the first things we did there was get out the equipment for the team while they did there daily routine of stenching and running. This was easier than i though as the equipment was relatively light, compared to the ones at school i had to carry for football. When we were done with the equipment, they had us stand next to the coaches, who were were hitting ground and fly balls to the kids and catch some balls as they they through them back to us. When it was the kids turn at batting we stood out on the field and catch balls that went our direction. The whole day was relaxing and fun and i enjoyed it a lot. Being out on the field again was great even tho it wasn't football and i wasn't playing, i still had a wonderful time. The experience was great and i wouldn't mind going back and helping the team out again.