Senior Project

           The summer after my sophomore year, my Youth Ministry Leadership Team went on a service trip to Los Angeles to help the homeless. One experience had an unexpectedly enormous impact on me. My group was walking around Skid Row passing out water and food and we pass a man lying on the sidewalk on a rather desolate street. Statuesquely standing next to the man was a security guard. After passing by it was clear the man was not in a good condition. Turning around, another group member and I walked back and were about to set down a bottle of water and some food in case the man was hungry or thirsty. By this point the group had turned around as well and was standing with us. Once setting down the water the immobile security guard told us we were not to give him anything to drink or it. Confused we asked if it could just be there for him later, and in return we got  a cold "No." Not wishing to argue with the security guard, we moved on. About 30 minutes later as we were walking back to the car, we passed the street where the man had been, however the street was no longer desolate. Huddled on a corner across the street we all watched as we saw the man we had tried to help casually lifted onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.  I felt utterly helpless as I was forced to watch this, angry and upset that we were not allowed to help him earlier.  While it sounds dramatic to say that in one week my life was changed, it really was. I returned to Napa with a new viewpoint on several aspects of life and with the conviction that I needed to do something to help in my own community. About a month later, once back in school, I created a club called P.A.T.H. (Providing Assistance To Homeless). We have done several fundraisers to to raise as much money as we could to donate it to several shelters in Napa and use the money to purchase food, water, and socks, to hand out on the streets of San Francisco.
            As soon as I found out about the Senior Project and its requirements I was determined that I would use this cause as my basis. After attending a tour of the Samaritan House, a family shelter, with my club, I thought that it may be a good specific cause for my Senior Project. Currently my goal is this: To raise enough money to help provide extra showers for the Samaritan House and have money left over to help buy supplies for other shelters. I am very passionate about this cause as I feel occasionally people treat the homeless as if they do not exist, choosing to ignore rather than help. I will need to plan many fundraisers, both of large and small scale, in order to raise the sufficient amount of funds.
              It is my hope that all goes according to plan and this time, I will not feel helpless.