Ardath's ProjectThis is a featured page

Ardath's Project
There are countless volunteer organizations that are offered today in our world. Many of these organizations are offered in Morgan County. I have become aware of the problem that my peers aren’t informed enough about these organizations; they may be aware of them but not know who to contact or where to go if they want to help out. I want to fix this problem: I want to get more teen volunteers in Morgan County.
The goal for my project is to spread the awareness of organizations within our community among my peers and to show them that there are many ways they can make a difference in the world and people’s lives. I plan on conducting interviews with those that are involved and connected with volunteer organizations. I also plan on becoming involved with them as well and recording my own first hand experiences from them. My overall finished product is to create a pamphlet of the organizations in the community (as many as I can include) that can inform my peers about the organizations in our community that they can become involved with. The pamphlet will tell them what each organization is about and who they can contact for more information and/or can tell that they want to help out.
*Another possible additional end product: A written essay about the benefits of volunteerism with my first hand experiences included. (Ask teachers what they think)
So Far, these are the organizations I have come up with to include in my project. Some may be taken out and/or there could be additional organizations added to the list:
· Toys for Tots
· McEat
· Red Cross
· Presbyterian Disaster Association
· Soup Kitchen
· Adopt an Angel


Toys for Tots- Occurred on December 12 at Widmyer Elementary. The woman in charge of it, Kim Mason, agreed to let me help out. She has been involved in it for several years and sees the children's reactions when they receive the toys. I helped out with Toys for Tots this year and helped pass out books to the children during the official event. I wrote down my observations and experiences. Kim said that I can interview her anytime.
    • I have to interview Kim Mason.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance- Lydia Walker, the organist in my church, has gone on mission trips with this organization. She has been at disaster scenes and helped people first hand. She would be an excellent person to interview. As far as my involvement with this organization, I can contact Pamela Burdine (the head of it) or write them a letter. I can also donate money and get gift kits together to send to people in need.

McEat- Stands for Morgan Country Emercency Assistance Team. I know my church is one of the original sponsors for McEat/MCIEC and we have a number of volunteers who have been involved with the program. Rhoads Speck is an active member and my father attends most board meetings, as a member of the clergy association. I can also talk to Bill and John Locke who are involved with the program.
  • Ask Rhoads, Bill and John questions about McEat. (ie, how it works, what they do, who it benefits)
  • Take pictures of the storage unit for the food to give people an idea of how much food is collected.
  • I can set up boxes in the school, and/or within the community.

    Soup Kitchen- Is sponsored by many individuals and organizations , like churches. My church has volunteers for the last Friday of every month. People I know who have helped out in the soup kitchen are my parents, Joan and Paul Holmes, and Maud and Raynette Lawyer. The soup kitchen is at Audrey Morris’s office, so she has a lot of experience with the people that are involved and come to eat. I have helped out with it before and found the experience very rewarding. I also was shocked to see the amount of people in Berkeley Springs who come to the soup kitchen. I can interview the servers (those who help out) and talk to those who are receiving the food, along with making my own observations.
    • Set up a day to get the symposium class to help out in the soup kitchen.
    • Interview those who are involved
    • Record observations (and maybe conversations) with those who come and eat.
    • Take pictures of soup kitchen
    • In November of this year, I participated in a fundraiser for the soup kitchen. I believe it was called Bowls for the Hungry. I can record my experience helping out with that and talk to Audrey Morris, since she was in charge of it. A lot of people from the community came to lend a helping hand.

      Adopt an Angel- My 4H group participates in this every year. We buy clothes and gifts for families during Christmas who can’t afford them. The families remain anonymous so I do not know how I will see the reactions of those receiving the gifts. I can still record down my experience with it though.
    • Record my experience with it.
    • Take pictures of what my 4-H group collected.

      Red Cross- My father used to be president of the Morgan County Red Cross, he told me he could answer many of my questions. Betty Allgeyer, a member of my church , volunteers at the Red Cross office here. Paul and Joan Holmes, also members of my church, help with some blood drives. My father introduced me to Vernon Franklin, a man who is a very active disaster volunteer.
    • I gave blood this year.
    • I spoke with the Red Cross people that were at my school and got a better idea of how the process of giving blood works. I still need to research statistics of how many people receive donated blood for their transfusions.
    • ( idea) Set up an appointment at the Red Cross office to interview and just look around to get a better idea about how things
    • Interview Vernon Franklin about being a disaster volunteer he experiences he comes across.

Student Council - This Christmas season, our student council is sponsoring seven families who cannot afford to buy Christmas gifts for their children. There are seven children total and member s of student council will be shopping for them on Saturday the 13.

          Priorities
  1. Contact Audrey Morris.
    • See about setting up a date for our class to come to the soup kitchen.
    • Interview her about her experiences with volunteering: With the Soup Kitchen, Adopt an Angel, etc. Ask her how volunteering has affected her life.
    • Ask her about other volunteer organization within the community I could add to my list and include in my pamphlet.
    • Ask her what teens can do to volunteer.

  1. Interview Lydia Walker
    • Ask her about her experiences in Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
    • See how volunteering has affected her life.
    • Ask her what I could do to become involved in this volunteer organization.

  1. Set up a visit with the local Red Cross office.
    • Ask them about the experiences they have had.
    • Ask them about how volunteering has affected them.
    • Ask them how teens can become involved.

  1. Set up an interview with Kim Mason
    • Ask her about her experiences with Toys for Tots throughout the years.
    • Ask her how volunteering for this even has affected her.
    • See if she has anything to say or recommend about teens volunteering.

  1. Interview the Soup Kitchen volunteers in my church
    • Ask them how they have been affected by volunteering.

  1. Contact McEat
    • Ask members how volunteering has affected them
    • Ask them how teens can help volunteer.





ArdathO1191
ArdathO1191
Latest page update: made by ArdathO1191 , Feb 2 2009, 2:42 PM EST (about this update About This Update ArdathO1191 Edited by ArdathO1191

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SandyCrum Ardath! 3 Oct 22 2008, 1:58 PM EDT by ArdathO1191
Thread started: Oct 22 2008, 1:43 PM EDT  Watch
I think your project sounds wonderful. I'm intereted though, would you actually partcipate in the programs for the needy or would you just interview people that have been helped by the program?
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