Final Blog

It’s been an interesting experience participating in the Main Street program.

1. I think I will remember most the time spent at Seeing Eye. It showed what the donations of a group were going towards and what I learned about it amaze me.

2. The most valuable lesson I learned was how find out if a non-profit company really does what it claims by looking at its 990 form.

3. I will be more likely to give my time or money now.

4. They should make an effort to respond to calls/questions and to send a representative to talk to us.

5. It is a really good program that would benefit everyone in it.

6. I’d tell them to go for it, as it provides a nice life experience for the students and can help people in need.

7. I’d rather be given $250 to give away.

Last Blog

I want to start off by thanking Robin, Ms. Light & Ms. Balaban for giving us their time every Friday.
1. The whole experience was something to remember so it’s hard for me to pick, but if I had to choose, I would say it’s the feeling of donating money, clothes, etc. to charities that support causes I really care about.

2.I learned to donate to non-profit charities because the money will go towards their cause & research; not big advertisements & people at the company like many big name “charities” do.

3. Yes I definitely will.

4. If you would appreciate the help of students, pick up the phone when they call & be polite.

5. I would tell them to join for sure. It gives your group the freedom to plan your own charity event without anyone else telling you how to run it. Also, nothing compares to the feeling you get when you actually give your charity the money or items you’ve raised on your own.

6. We were all dedicated to our fundraisers, and took out our own time to plan out what we were doing. My group took time out of our lunch to talk to the advisers & Ms. Jones about our volleyball tournament. Right before the tournament, we spent time from after school up until nearly 10:00 making the prizes & trophies for the winners. We put everything into this tournament because we wanted it to be successful so we could raise a lot of money & tooth brushes for the youth shelter & it happened!

7. I would much rather donate $250 to a nonprofit organization with a good cause.

I would also like to mention a nonprofit organization in Texas called CARE Rescue. All workers are volunteers & they take in big cats that can’t survive in the wild & take great care of them. The website is carerescuetexas.com. I plan on donating money to them in the near future. My blog is really long this week, but I had a lot to write. I’ll end it by saying that I’m really glad I joined msp 🙂

Week 7

My group was fundraising during the week selling some baked goods and it went quite well. It was a good thing to do. I can’t wait to give it to our charity.

Week 7

On November 20th I learned about some of the organizations that our group Kaptain Kidz is seeking to help. When the speakers came in it was interesting to see how different their answers were to the questions we asked them. They showed enthusiasm for their organization and answered all of our inquiries concisely. Kaptain Kidz also learned that the Youth Shelter of Morris County does not except money but clothes and other necessities. This was very helpful for us to learn, considering our fundraising was already being put together.

Fundraising

Hey MSP! I’m glad to say that our fundraisers are going very well! I’ve been able to notify our peers with our fundraisers and they’ve responded very well by buying our baked goods for our charity that we are fundraising for. There’s been a lot of up and downs, but at least there is progress and hopefully I’ll be ready before the end date. Good luck to you all!

-Mark Roufaeal

Week 7

I interviewed my father, Kerry. He is different in comparison to a normal person especially someone with a New York background. The fact that he says his brothers are the best experience in his life considering they always pick on him and fight whenever they are over for the holiday. I learned from this conversation how he views the problem in America and how he feels towards charitable donation and volunteer work.

Week 6

I learned from the panel that I will not distribute my funds in various places, I feel that the group we called for the youth services needs more help than the other charities based on what the representative was saying. All the other charities seemed to be well off, especially the Seeing Eye with their survival rate, unlike the youth center who seemed in need of the help. I learned from our teams fundraiser is that everyone can participate in it. The drive is not about the money but taking clothes you do not wear anymore and giving them to someone who may not have the money for new clothes. This fundraiser has shown me that everyone has kindness withing them.
Brandon

Week 5

Looking deeper into our charity of choice, I found that the money aspect of giving would not be allowed. Instead, investing other materials like clothes, deodorant, and bags are more important. These are more valuable methods to investing because these kids will see someone actually donating something they can physically see and use. It is hard to evaluate a company that is non profit because we do not really know where their money goes and if it is being put to the right thing. Finding the best donation for the company is important so they can use it to their full potential.
Brandon

Week 4

I learned that my organization is a non profit and cannot accept cash at all in any form. Also, They are unable to disclose their location due to the fact that some of this kids may be attending out school. Also, they only hold a small amount of children, the max amount of space in their facility is 18 children ( 8 boys and 8 girls). Looking at the numbers is important because they inform us on where they use their income and if this facility can maintain the money for a long time if funds are cut off for some reason. It is important to donate to a reliable and able to survive when a crisis occurs.
Brandon

Week 6

It was fascinating hearing the speakers of the different charities. It gave me a lot of understanding as to what goes on in the charities. Our charity, the Morris County Mental Health Organization, was interesting in how it spent its money. I was surprised to find out the amount of time and effort each person put into their charities. I’m excited to see what’s in store for this upcoming week’s meeting.