As we ring in 2022 we are also celebrating our Middle School Service-Learning Clubs, with 185 active participants in on-campus clubs led by 30 Hands4Hope Youth Leaders. All seven on-campus clubs are in the action phase of the service-learning model.
As we see a rise in COVID cases in schools Hands4Hope staff are working closely with each school teacher advisor to comply with any new regulations. For now only Folsom Middle School has returned to Zoom club meetings. To address safety concerns there are some on-campus clubs that are meeting outside, while others have been able to meet in larger capacity spaces like gyms to ensure the space for social distancing. Nevertheless, our youth participants are determined to make a difference in their community!
Leading into the holiday season the Placerville clubs at Markham and Herbert Green made 70 handmade cards to accompany gift cards given out during the Holidays to Lilliput families. The gift cards were collected by the Union Mine Club and donated in May, 2021. Moving forward Markham has chosen to work on a project to benefit children served by Lilliput, and Herbert Green is working to develop a project to support the efforts of the El Dorado County German Shepherd Rescue.
Camerado Middle School will be supporting All About Equine and Folsom Middle School will be supporting Folsom Zoo Sanctuary. Both clubs are in the early stages of developing a fundraiser to help them reach their goals.
The Marina Village Club selected children as their area of need and decided to focus on the UC Davis Heart Center. They welcomed Elli as a guest speaker, a 17 year old patient with severe Bradycardia who received her second pacemaker in October. At their next club meeting they welcomed Elli’s surgeon Dr. Cortez, a Pediatric Congenital Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist for the UC Davis Heart Center. He was able to talk about the important work they do at the Heart Center and share a little bit about the technology involved in Elli’s case. Both speakers shared how the club could help pediatric patients be more comfortable and entertained when spending long stints in the hospital. The club voted to host a toy drive, in addition to purchasing pillows using funds raised by a donut and muffin sale at the school dance on January 28th. In addition they will host a few before school donut and muffin sales.
Rolling Hills and Sutter Middle Schools are joining forces to support the Sweet Dreams Foundation in building a dream bedroom for a child battling a life threatening illness. Currently both clubs are working to design and illustrate a custom picture book to help accessorize 10-year-old Carter's bedroom, as well as his 5-year-old sister Ruby. April 9th both clubs will have the opportunity to participate in a “build day” to put together furniture, help with details inside the bedroom, construct a “Tower Garden”, and clean up the yard for the next family to be chosen in February. Students will also have another hands-on experience wrapping and writing notes of encouragement to include in the Roos Wraps given to children under 2.
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