This week was the last week of my Genius Hour project, and I gave my last donations of socks and clothes to a clothes donation box in Clemmons. I had planned on donating to Storehouse for Jesus, but they only accept donations from 8-5 Monday - Thursday and I don't have the time after school to go after school to give them. So I had to compromise, and give to the boxes in Clemmons. At least I am helping someone, though! :)
I am sad to see the project come to an end and I am very glad I chose this as my project. I am thrilled I chose to help those in need over the last weeks, and I wouldn't trade the feeling I get when I donate. I feel that I have made a significant difference in peoples lives through my project and that was my main goal. I'm satisfied with my collections and progress I made over the last 12 weeks. I feel that I made a significant difference in my community, and that's what I wanted to accomplish in the end! Thank y'all for reading my blog posts and keeping up with my progress! You're never too busy to make a difference :)
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5/5/2019 0 Comments week 11- first donationThis week I did what I'd been waiting to all along. I gave my first set of donations to Family Promise of Davie County. I took all of my soaps to the day center of Family Promise, because that is where they shower and get ready for the week. I also gave a majority of my socks there as well. I gave all the baby and young children socks there because many families are in need of those. Giving my soaps and socks there just warmed my heart. A homeless woman answered the door when I knocked, and I asked for Michelle who was delighted to collect my donations. I gave all of my soaps and most of my socks to Family Promise, because they will benefit from it most. I included some of the winter clothes as well that will benefit them in the upcoming seasons.
Giving these donations to the day center gave me an overwhelming joy that I cannot describe, I am so glad I chose this as my Genius Hour project, because it is already making a difference in the community. I can't wait to do it again next week. -Presley 4/24/2019 0 Comments week 10- Third collectionThis week was my last set of donations that I collected. I have mixed emotions about the end of my donation box at Hillsdale. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to collect donations for the less fortunate. I am sad to see it come to an end though, because I loved the feeling of walking up to the box and seeing what I had received.
As I walked up to my bin this week at church I noticed something strange. The donations this week consisted of all winter clothing such as toboggans, gloves, ski bands, and fleece gators. I was alarmed at this because it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I all types of donations are welcomed and greatly appreciated! The overall total of winter clothes that I obtained was 89. I think over the past two weeks some may have seen winter clothes and bought them to put in my bin as well which is totally fine, but it setback my overall goal of just soap and socks. In this weeks collection I only received 10 pairs of socks and 22 bars of soap. This week was my last collection of donations, I'm very pleased with my total numbers. Hillsdale members are so giving, and I can't thank them enough for their selfless donations. My total number of donations was 280 which is 100 short of my extended goal but more than my original goal. I reached my first goal, so I feel accomplished with my final donation numbers. Now the moment we've all been waiting for, giving. Stay tuned to see where I give next week and where I give to in week 12. See you then! -Presley 4/17/2019 1 Comment Week 9- planning donation locationThis week I am beginning to consider how and where I will be donating. I've been considered organizations throughout my collection process, but this week is when I will decide for good. I know for sure I will be donating to Storehouse for Jesus in Mocksville. This will be the best way to impact my community in a positive way. Depending on how many donations I get in my last collection will determine if I donate to other organizations as well. If I reach my goal of 400 next week, I will donate the remainder of my donations to Family Promise of Davie County.
My plan is to bring my donations in bags and give Storehouse for Jesus as many as they will take. In doing this, I will help those who are in desperate need of socks and soaps. I'm getting excited about donating soon because I will do what I've been planning and working for over the span of the project. Donating gives me the best feeling in my heart. I have donated to Storehouse for Jesus in the past and it makes me joyful to help others. I will be back next week with another tally of donations in Week 10s blog post. I hope to get closer to my goal next week, so I can donate to Family Promise of Davie County as well. I'll see you next week with another tally of my total donations! Thanks for reading! -Presley 4/10/2019 0 Comments Week 8- time to reflectSince I started my project I haven't taken much time to reflect on my results thus far, and that is what I'm taking time to do in this weeks blog. Last week, as you may have seen I didn't get too many donations. My fear is that my donation tally will keep decreasing as the weeks go on and that I will be short of my goal. Being short of my goal wouldn't be the end of the world, because I already have 200 which will help countless amounts of those in need. However, the more the merrier right?
I have began to think about what my project truly means to me and what it will mean to those I give my donations to. Very few people choose to pay attention to those in need and don't take time to think about others because life gets so busy. In doing this project, it has made me realize all it takes is one person to get a movement started and others will contribute. All it took was for me to put up a donation box for people to give their share of donations and in 8 weeks I've gotten 200 donations. This has inspired me to start more movements in the future that will continue to help others. The last reflection I have for this week is on the location that I will give my donations to. I haven't given much thought to this part of the project in a while, and as the project is coming close to the end, I need to take this into consideration. Yesterday I was driving in Mocksville and I saw the Storehouse For Jesus and this made me think of this aspect of the project. Donating there would be the best way to help my community through my project and I will also look into giving a portion to Family Promise of Davie County as well. 4/4/2019 0 Comments week 7-The Second tallyThis week I got my second tally of donations from the church. As you read last week, I had a setback so therefore I got off schedule with my tallies. It shouldn't affect my total donations this week too much though. When I went to the church I wasn't too surprised to see only 2 bags of donations. My first tally gave me the most donations and I'm predicting that to continue throughout my project.
Even though I only had two bags in my bin, they were full of donations. One bag consisted of 8 bars of soap, 5 were loose bars that didn't have packaging. The other bag had 22 bars of soap in them. Unlike last time, the brands of soap varied this time. I had 9 different brands of soap in this tally, but in the first I only had two different brands. Neutrogena was my most popular donation this week, whereas in Week 5 the most popular brand was Dial. My total tally for Week 7 is 31 bars of soap. This number is much lower than the first time, but I expected that so it's okay. A trend has begun this week, of donations that only consist of bars of soap. I am happy with this though because I had more sock donations last time than this time obviously. My total tally of donations together now are at a total of 199 donations. If I would've kept my goal of 200 donations, I would be on the verge of reaching it, however as you saw in Week 5 I have extended my goal. At this point I am half way at my goal and a little more than half way through the project. Knowing this, I know that this may be a challenge for me, but I believe it will all play out the way it is supposed to. I plan to give out my donations to the homeless shelters in Week 12. Therefore, I will have to reach my goal by then. I will keep ya updated and see ya next week! -Presley 3/28/2019 1 Comment Week 6- my first setbackThis week was spring break, so therefore I could not stay on track with collecting my donations every 2 weeks. I didn't plan ahead for this, my spring break trip to the mountains, was spontaneous. This is the first setback that I have encountered thus far with my project. This will teach me to plan ahead in the future so I don't get off track. Although it is a setback, it is minor and nothing that will alter my final product or presentation in a negative way.
I will collect the donations next Sunday rather than this Sunday because of my trip. On the bright side, I have more donations to look forward to next week when I am collecting. I have to remember there is always a positive side to the setback. This setback will give the people at church an opportunity to give their share of donations, if they so choose, which in turn will make my collection process more successful. I am interested to see how next weeks donations will compare to those I tallied in Week 4. I don't expect to get as many in week 7 because my bin has been in the lobby for a while now and some may overlook it. I hope my donations stay continuous because I changed my goal to 400 rather than 200 given the tallies in Week 4. This setback has given me a new idea, of collecting my donations every 3 blog posts like I will now have to do next week. In doing so, I will have more donations when I go to collect them, and therefore it'll make for a better blog post that catches eyes! I've now learned from this setback, I am keeping a positive outlook on the project and not getting stressed. In doing this, I have found a better strategy for my collection process. I will answer all of these questions in next weeks blog :)! I will see you then with a new tally of donations as well as an update on my end goal, whether it will stay the same or continue to increase as time goes on. See you then. Thanks for reading! -Presley 3/20/2019 0 Comments Week 5- rethinking it allAs you saw last week, my first look at my donations was astonishing and far more than expected! So, I have decided to challenge myself and extend my final goal to 400 donations rather than 200. In doing so, I will be able to help more people throughout the community and get the word out about my project more. I never expected to be where I am today at week 5. I'm very glad though, because now I can help more people.
I have decided to put my posters up around the community a little more so the word spreads. Although I put them up at two stores in Week 3, I believe since I have extended my goal, putting up more will help. I will use the same template as last time. The places I have chose this week are Kimono in Clemmons and Venezia's in Advance. Putting them up in places that aren't near each other will help further the number of those who hear about my mission. Sorry this weeks post is short, but there isn't much else I have to inform you about! I will give you a new tally next week of the donations I receive. Hopefully it is as successful as Week 4. Thanks for sticking around, see ya next week! -Presley 3/13/2019 3 Comments week 4- The first lookThis weekend was the first time I had been back to Hillsdale since I dropped my bin off in Week 2. I found that my information was included last weeks bulletin at the church, therefore I did not get the chance to see it. Most of my copies of my information sheets beside the bin were gone and the bin had a huge amount donations in it. I'm very surprised by the amount of donations I received because it is very early in the project. There were huge bags filled with soaps and socks!
I tallied up the amount of soaps and socks I received individually. Each pair of socks counts as one donation as well as each bar of soap. My first week tally is 78 pairs of socks as well as 50 bars of soap. This amount is quite shocking to me and I'm so thankful for all the donations! I never expected to receive this many early in the project! The sock donations varied in size, color, and style just like I was hoping. There are 14 pairs of baby socks included in the donations. There are men and women socks in different sizes and styles which is perfect. There are crew socks, active socks, ankle socks, and even no show socks. I am so overwhelmed at the amount of donations that were present in the first tally! I cannot wait to give back to the community at the end of the 12 weeks. All of the soaps I got were bar soaps which is what I was expecting. The were two brands. I got 4 packs of dial soap that included 22 bars and 12 bars. The others were two 3 packs that were hypoallergenic. The other brand was Ivory and it was a 10 pack. Those who contributed to my donations were so thoughtful and caring. Again, I'm so surprised and excited to see where my project takes me in the future. I am already more than half way to my overall goal of donations, and I couldn't be happier. My total tally was 128 donations of soaps and socks combined. The members are my church are so amazing and selfless! I can't wait to give you the tally of the next 2 weeks in week 6! See you next week! -Presley 3/6/2019 0 Comments week 3- PostersThis week I focused on producing posters that I will put up in the community to spread the word about my project. Putting up these posters will help tremendously with my donations I receive, while also possibly motivating some people in the community to visit Hillsdale Methodist which would be awesome! If I can reach my goal while also spreading the word of God, that is a double whammy and would be so great!
I will be visiting the church next week to get a tally of my first donations. I was in contact with Christy at the church this week and gave her information to put in the bulletin that is handed out at church. So, at this weeks service my message and goal will be spread throughout the church and awareness will be brought to it. Every 2 weeks I will count up my donations and take pictures of me with them and include them in the blog for you to see. I cannot wait to share my progress with you over the next 12 weeks. The places that I will put up my posters around the community are mostly convenient stores. For example, I will put them up at Advance Country Store and Bixby Convenient Store. Some restaurants they will be displayed in include Venezia's. When people notice the posters, it may help them to consider donating to my drive as well as visiting church. My poster is attention grabbing, short but informative, and no too wordy! I will include a picture below of it. It gets the message across and makes you want to read more with the bolded text. |