Remember when someone in your class at school, a friend or a neighbor copied something you wore or did to your hair? And when you told your parents, their reply was, “Well, copying someone is just a form of a compliment because they liked what you did and want to do that, too”?
When our ACE staff came together to discuss agendas and programs we wanted to implement this summer with our communities and students, a neat request emerged. Our ACE and Galina Breeze employees expressed a desire to have their own children come to work with them and be exposed to “give back” as it’s called here in Jamaica, a term for volunteering.
It’s true – our staff has been so impressed with how American families and youth give back that they wanted their own children to be see it in action, people working for a cause outside of themselves. Wow, what a great unexpected surprise!
Beginning in July, we will have about 20 of our Jamaican students coming to work with their parents but dropped off at the ACE office four days a week for breakfast and preparation time. Then, depending on ages and needs, the Jamaican students will join the American volunteers each day to learn and copy their counter parts in how to give back to their communities… and each other.
We are thinking of calling it the FVT or Future Volunteers Club and would love to raise about $4,300 to cover the costs of t-shirts, tutors, food and transportation. Please consider helping us out to prepare the next generation of difference-makers! And get ready for some copy cats to follow you this summer! It’s really the highest form of a compliment — changing lives and transforming communities, one volunteer at a time.
TRIP COST
There is an old proverb, “If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.” History proves that lasting change in a poverty culture is achieved by empowering the people to reach their full potential and become self-sustaining. ACE is invested in our community long-term and in conjunction with our partners in the US, we are identifying the circumstances of those around us in order to find real solutions for their unique needs.