During my senior-year internship at Capital Area Head Start (that was discussed in a previous post), I decided that I wanted to organize a toy drive to bring new and fun toys/activities to the students that I spent each day with. Unfortunately, I knew that high school students would not be inclined to donate toys for these kids that they had never met, unless there was an incentive. With that in mind, I decided to utilize my position as my high school’s Key Club Vice President to provide service hours to our members in exchange for a certain number of toys. I essentially told the hundreds of students in Key Club that they could earn one service hour (to count towards National Honors Society or Key Club’s yearly service hour requirements) for every two toys that they donated. I let the donation drive last for 30 days, and I could not believe what I saw.
One month later, I checked the donation bins and realized that all of the bins that were scattered throughout my high school were overflowing with exciting toys. There was a wide range of toys including barbies, coloring books and pencils, action figures, sports balls, and so much more. I was both shocked and emotional that my community came together to gather all of these toys for a group of children that meant so much to me. It took me a couple of hours to gather up everything, and with the help of my friends and teachers, I was able to package it all into my large vehicle. It completely filled the entirety of my car, and it was amazing to see this project that I planned all coming together.
The following day, I brought all of the toys to the Head Start building where they would later be distributed to different schools throughout central PA. All of the staff members were so grateful for my high school’s contributions, and I could not be more proud.
This toy drive taught me the importance of working together and putting our own needs aside in order to benefit the people in our lives that matter most. I will always be grateful to the individuals in my high school who contributed to this amazing cause, and I hope that donation drives like the one I created will continue to supply items to the people that need it more than we do.
Thank you.
I love how you were able to recognize that your audience (high schoolers) were unlikely to go pick out toys for children for the fun of it (maybe some of them but probably not with much effort that’s how it would be at my school). I think it is great that you used your board member position to influence and help another organization. It’s a great way to persuade others to help and I’m so glad it made a difference and you got such a great result!!
I really loved how you brought everyone together in giving away some toys which is super impressive. I also liked how you used your position in an another club to get more support for the toy drive using the honors society or the clubs requirement as a prime reasoning. Overall this is a great result and incredible to read about the toy drive you started and got!!