Volunteering--Something Big

[metalhead1023]

Well let me start by saying I want to get into a competitive university like Cornell, Georgetown, or Stanford. Second I'll say I am part native American and I am involved in our local tribal clinic which provides medical care for our tribal members. I was looking at going to a 6 year BS/MD program and haven't ruled it out completely yet but I'm pretty sure I want to goto a 4 year university.

But anyway to the point, can you guys help me think of volunteering ideas to do with the native American community in my city. I live in a large city. I could easily work with children or adults. Remember it is a clinic and on the side of what I want to do I am going to do some clinical volunteering. I want it to be big. Lastly I already have permission to do the volunteer work I want.

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[Marigold]

Hmmm....can you think of any specific needs that the community has?

 

[creativedentist]

Working with kids is a plus.
If you want to make it "big", you could actually have a day or two filled with..not necessarily a "fair", but I guess you could call it a health fair. Everyone is welcome; kids go to the "kid part" of the event where they learn about health issues, maybe even do some hands-on stuff. Adults can get checkups and whatever vaccines/shots they need. It should be an interactive event! Sounds fun
I don't know anyone who's done that; I honestly thought of it just now.

Whatever you do, good luck!

 

[Doodledog]

But anyway to the point, can you guys help me think of volunteering ideas to do with the native American community in my city. I live in a large city. I could easily work with children or adults. Remember it is a clinic and on the side of what I want to do I am going to do some clinical volunteering. I want it to be big. Lastly I already have permission to do the volunteer work I want.

Type 2 Diabetes is a big problem for Native Americans. Perhaps you could work on an educational campaign related to this.

 

[HumidBeing]

Big stuff that makes a big impression often involves taking the initiative to get something new rolling.

What unmet needs in your community can you think of? What are some ways to make a dent in those needs? Your project doesn't have to start off on a grand scale. Most don't.

Getting a new project started and successfully underway involves several skills - The ability to analyze, bring people together to develop and initiate the project, organization, the ability to see a project through, strong interpersonal skills . . .

In other words, it shows leadership and involvement in a way that simply getting elected to an office does not. (Getting elected doesn't say much, it's what a person does after that that counts.)

For schools that have loads of applicants with high GPA's and SAT scores, it's the unique stuff that students have done on their own which make them interesting applicants and increase their likelihood of acceptance.

Of course, that's not the only way, but it is an attention grabber. More than that, it's part of building skills and confidence that will be handy throughout life.

 

[creativedentist]

Type 2 Diabetes is a big problem for Native Americans. Perhaps you could work on an educational campaign related to this.

I hear heart disease is as well.

 

[metalhead1023]

You guys have opened up my mind, and this is what I was looking for! But, one more thing I have to worry about, I do not think they will pay for it but there is a good chance they will pay for a majority. So what I am asking is ideas for fund raising now?

Thank you guys, I can see that you guys really care.

 

[creativedentist]

You guys have opened up my mind, and this is what I was looking for! But, one more thing I have to worry about, I do not think they will pay for it but there is a good chance they will pay for a majority. So what I am asking is ideas for fund raising now?

Thank you guys, I can see that you guys really care.

I volunteered at the Relay for Life, and they held a silent auction; it went really well. There were a lot of things like jewelry, concert tickets, kid baskets, etc. You might find some bracelets for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. You know those breast cancer bracelets? Like those. Umm what else...bakery sale? first aid kits? bingo? I think the silent auction is the best idea though.

 

[QofQuimica]

I volunteered at the Relay for Life, and they held a silent auction; it went really well. There were a lot of things like jewelry, concert tickets, kid baskets, etc. You might find some bracelets for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. You know those breast cancer bracelets? Like those. Umm what else...bakery sale? first aid kits? bingo? I think the silent auction is the best idea though.

Do HS kids not do car washes any more to raise money? I seem to remember spending half of my free time during HS standing by the side of a road. OP, go to a local gas station and see if they'd be willing to let you and some of your friends from school wash cars for donations (suggest a $10 donation). Have the girls in your group be the ones to hold the signs next to the road while the guys wash the cars, especially if everyone is wearing their bathing suits. It worked incredibly well for us.

 

[creativedentist]

Do HS kids not do car washes any more to raise money? I seem to remember spending half of my free time during HS standing by the side of a road. OP, go to a local gas station and see if they'd be willing to let you and some of your friends from school wash cars for donations (suggest a $10 donation). Have the girls in your group be the ones to hold the signs next to the road while the guys wash the cars, especially if everyone is wearing their bathing suits. It worked incredibly well for us.

That's exactly what my volleyball team did We earned a lot of $$$

 

[Terpskins99]

Type 2 Diabetes is a big problem for Native Americans. Perhaps you could work on an educational campaign related to this.

Unfortunately, so is alcoholism and suicide. Not sure what degree you could tackle these issues as a high school student, though.

 

[cdmccart]

OP, what year are you in high school? How much time do you have to put something together? If you're still in your earlier years of high school it might be worthwhile to see if you can start a club at your high school. I don't know how big the Native American community is in your area, but could you start a club with the goal of raising money and awareness for the Native American health issues?

By starting a club it helps get more people involved at your high school, which will likely result in your ability to get more done. I wanted to hold an event for Invisible Children to raise money, so a couple of my friends and I decided to hold a rummage sale. Eventually we formed a club, held 2 rummage sales (raised over $1100), held 3 screenings of the Invisible Children documentary, hosted "Roadies" (volunteers who travel around the country to present the documentary and speak on behalf of Invisible Children) from California at our Florida school, and now we're in the beginning stages of planning an Alternative Spring Break.

What about doing an Alternative Spring Break with some other students from your school? Get some other like-minded kids together and plan to spend the majority of your Spring Break doing some sort of volunteering with the Native American community. The fair that someone else mentioned could be held on one of these days, and the other days of your Spring Break you could spend all day volunteering in the clinic or something.

 

[cdmccart]

Something else I just rememberd... I forget where I read it, but I'm stealing this idea from someone else. If you're good in English or know someone who is, you could create like an informational pamphlet that specifically covers the medical issues affecting the Native American community. I mean, you might want to talk to whoever runs the clinic you talked about and see if they'd support you... and then if you get the green light, make the pamphlet and figure out how to make it look professional and make a bunch of copies. Then either pass out the pamphlets at the clinic or put them in the waiting room or something.

Whoever did this first (it might have been the author of Hot Lights, Cold Steel) attatched a copy of the pamphlet he made to his secondary applications when he applied to med school.