JCKing
Registered: December 2009
City/Town/Province: Rockldge
Posts: 1
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Some believe that many times their altruistic deeds go unnoticed, and further deter them from contributing again. I have learned through the service project I initiated, Bears.Care (Bears That Care), that this is not true. The excitement displayed on a child’s face in a photo and the simple recognition of appreciation in an email from afar, although seemingly small, have shown me the extent of my efforts and the indescribable feeling of making a child smile. The Bears.Care effort is a project that started from something I had literally dreamt and through great effort have been able to make into a reality. The project’s goal is to hand assemble two piece fabric teddy bears for children in orphanages around the world. Although the project has just started, there is already a multitude of orphanages around the world that have contacted it including countries such as Mongolia, Madagascar, Bolivia, and Israel. The first Orphanage that contacted me was the Zion Orphanage, in Jerusalem, Israel. Rabbi Gershon Unger, the coordinator at the orphanage, happily instructed me that he had approximately 30 children who were of the age who would appreciate the teddy bears I was offering, and I quickly set off to work. Unfortunately I was not blessed with the sewing craftsmanship of my mother and found to be terrible at sewing a straight line. But after several “re-do’s” I finished the package for The Zion Orphanage. I was not expecting much when sending the package off, but to my surprise Rabbi Unger included my story into a monthly newsletter that he complied for the Orphanage and emailed me pictures of the children when they first received the bears. The happiness and excitement that was shining through their eyes made me so happy that I almost cried. Their gratitude showed me the simplicity of a child’s smile to give the priceless feeling of having my efforts positively affect a life. This project was not only a learning experience for me (sewing for the first time), but was psychological transition for me, changing my perspective on the effects of my actions. Not only did this activity provide happiness to strangers from afar but it also encouraged recycling habits due to the fact that all fabric used was either scrap craft fabric or simply from used clothing. As I move onto college, I fully intend on continuing to excel academically, but more importantly I want to continue the Bears.Care project so that my endeavors continue to have the opportunity have a positive influence on others. I hope to initiate a student club at the university in order to amplify the productivity of the project and also allow others to experience the realization of the impact of their own actions. I believe that my leadership, responsibility, and volunteer attempts as well as my academic attributes illustrate my capability to succeed in college in excess and persuade the Nicodemus Wilderness Project to consider my application for their academic scholarship.
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