I joined Poudre High School’s Service Club as a sophomore, after my history teacher made a plea to my class to help sustain the flagging organization. My previous service experience had been limited to Girl Scouts and the occasional charity run, and I was excited to be a part of group that would help me expand my volunteering horizons. At my first meeting, I remember being disappointed: only seven or eight people were there, and the leadership (all seniors) seemed vaguely apathetic. Nevertheless, I kept going all through that year, mostly because I had made fast friends with the two other sophomore members. When the end of that year rolled around, we held elections for next year’s leadership positions. Heart pounding (I had never been a candidate …show more content…
We have gone from ten or twelve irregular members to thirty plus committed members. We have opened up the club to ideas from members and have established fantastic new projects as a result of that brainpower. Prior to this year, Service Club had two or three main projects throughout the year, with little in between. Now, our range of work is much more varied. Among the new projects started this year that have already been successful are our drive for donations to create gift baskets for a local women’s shelter, a new recycling program in partnership with Environmental Club, and a program where students learn to make simple mittens to donate to Homeless Gear, a local nonprofit. My personal favorite has been a partnership that I orchestrated between Larimer Humane Society (a wonderful organization where I’ve been a regular volunteer for three years) and Service Club: we’ve already have students successfully assist with fundraising events and will continue to be involved with the Humane Society whenever we are needed. To maintain this momentum well into the future, Christy and I have made sure to train underclassmen to take over our positions when we