My group created our Purpose, Vision, and Mission statements very easily.  We all have similar ideas and interests so it was easy to agree upon these thing.  I expect to encounter a similar situation that Yale had while reaching out to organizations.  I think that I will get on the line with friendly people and all will go well.

I feel like I learned a lot about myself from the Brown Paper Bag Activity.  Having to choose only three items that describes myself was the most challenging part.  I thought long and hard about it but in the end, I narrowed it down to: 1). A small soccer ball 2.) Varsity Track Pin 3) Academic Honor Roll Pin.  I picked the soccer ball because I have been playing since the time I could walk and it is a really big part of my life.  I chose the track pin as my second item because I have met so many people from track meets that I am with close with today.  I selected the Honor Roll Pin because I am a proud honor roll student and I really value my education.  I also learned a lot of things about the other members of my group.  I learned that Ryan loves to make his own music.  I leaned that Shakay is a strong individual and that she enjoys making others happy.  I learned that Cassandra loves kids and cherishes her family.  I learned that Agim really loves to write, especially songs.

We are still brainstorming different ideas for a fundraiser.  One of our ideas is to host a basketball tournament to raise money, but we would have to get it approved first.

During our first Main Street Philanthropy session, we did an activity with 20 MAD(Make a Difference) cards that had different charities depicted on them.  Of those 20 cards, we had to choose the 3 that we felt were most important.  The hardest part of the activity for me was eliminating 17 of the charities because I felt that they were all important.  The three cards I selected were Hunger, Social Justice, and Religious and Spiritual Organizations.  I believe that Hunger is the most important one because about 21,000 people die from starvation everyday.  It is a big problem that is often overlooked.   I learned that I care a lot about many different charities and that I want to help.  I learned that many of the other members of MSP feel the same way.

There are many things that I hope to gain as an individual.  One thing for sure is the experience with donating to charities.  I hope to be able to donate once I am older and have a stable income.  Another goal of mine is to better myself as a person.  I believe that MSP can help me with that by doing charity of the less fortunate.