Week 9

Today my class finally got to go around to all the charities we have been raising money for and present to them their checks. I sadly was not able to go today because I was away on a trip to Detroit, Michigan. I am in a group with Evan and Nick and we decided to donate the money we raised to Peggy Adams. Although I was not able to be with my group, my group did a great job today and everything seemed to have gone great. The amount of money presented to Peggy Adams was $514 and Peggy Adams seemed ecstatic to receive such a gift. I really wish I could have been there with my team today but I am happy my other team members got t experience such a fantastic event.

Team "Cause for Paws" Presenting Peggy Adams their check.

Team “Cause for Paws” Presenting Peggy Adams their check.

Interview

My class was assigned to interview one person and ask them a set of questions having to do with philanthropy. I decided to ask my Grandma and she had some interesting answers to my questions. The answers that stood out to me the most are as follows:

Me- “What was an experience you had as a young person that changed your life? What lessons did you learn from that experience?”

Her- “Living on a boat. It made me appreciate the more simpler things in life like living under a stable house with a roof.”

Me- “How were money matters handled in your family growing up?”

Her- “My family was very frugal. We saved money in any way we could. We could only use one piece of a toilet paper every time we used the bathroom!”

Me- “What are some organizations or causes you have supported or that you now support with your charitable giving and/or community service?”

Her- “I give my old clothes to Goodwill when I see no need for them anymore.”

Me- “What are some reasons you think it’s important that young people today get involved in charitable giving and community service?”

Her- “It helps them get outside of themselves and it also helps them learn that receiving isn’t the only good thing, giving makes you feel great too.”

I enjoyed interviewing my Grandma and it helped me learn a little more about her than I knew before.

Panel

Last class, we had representatives of the organizations our class were looking into to donate our hard earned money towards. We had representatives from Peggy Adams, The Quantum House, and Scripps come in and talk to us about their organizations. My group asked Peggy Adams to come. The representative of Peggy Adams was actually the CEO which was very exciting. He gave us much information on what Peggy Adams was about and he represented Peggy Adams in a very positive and well-put manner. Ironically, he is an Oxbridge students father!

Although the other representatives weren’t for my group, I absorbed a lot of interesting information from them. Overall, the representatives were very friendly, generous, and overall did a great job representing their organizations. At first, my group did not receive a very friendly exchange from Peggy Adams but the CEO helped regain Peggy Adam’s image for our group. In my opinion, Peggy Adams is still a contender against other organizations with a lot of potential to receive my groups earnings in the end.

Animal Shelters

So far, I have contacted Safe Harbor Animal Shelter and Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. I believe Safe Harbor Animal Shelter is a great shelter to work with because they are strongly against putting down there animals which shows great dedication and character as an organization. I want to work with Peggy Adams because I volunteered for them last summer. I helped walk and take care of the basic needs of their dogs and have created ties with their personnel.

I have reviewed Peggy Adams 990 Form. View it here. It has helped me understand how 990 Forms work a little more. I think Peggy Adams would be a great organization to donate to but the team is thinking about donating to Tri-Country Humane Society.

My team was thinking about having a bake sale of treats for people and treats for their dogs. We think it’s a good idea because bake sales usually bring in the most money and also it is a fun idea that is relevant to our cause. I love to bake so I would bake all of the goods.

 

Purpose, Vision, and Mission Statement

Last class, we worked on developing our purpose, vision, and mission statements. I liked the way the program walked us through it because it made a difficult thing much more simpler. It broke it in to different steps for each statement. We discussed the difference between the mission statement and the vision statement. The mission statement is what the organization wants to mainly do to solve a problem and the vision statement is what a perfect world would be where the problem is no longer existent. The vision statement may not be completely attainable, but perfection is a good goal to have and to aim for.