Be the Change: One letter at a time

People said, "Don't do volunteering for the wrong reasons." 
I didn't listen. 
And that ended up changing my life forever. What started as an extracurricular activity to impress colleges ended up becoming a school wide campaign that I run as part of my role of being a Junior City Councillor.

So here is what I did and what you can do to make a difference. #BeTheChange

But before we get into the nitty gritty I would like to provide some context. My dream school isn't just the for the name. I always knew that my main goal in life, the itch that I never could scratch, the recurring dream that I always forgot, was to to be remembered. 

Though I am sure you don't want to read my whole life story so let me just continue where I left off.

#BeTheChange

I have the privilidge of attending a service-minded school. We have outreaches once a term to our chosen organisation, mine being for the old age home. And not just for the retirement home in my local area. This old age home is one where elderly people are abandoned by their families, a place where the staff are payed far too little. They live off donations. Until the donations stopped coming. Or more correctly, the donations stopped coming to them.

Some of the board members started stealing the donations;they took home the food, toiletries and blankets for their own families. Recently stories came out of the neglectance of the staff, especially towards the elderly with more needs.

I wanted to change these old people's fate. How would you feel if your last few years were spent in a house run by abusive caretakers. You can't even escape, because you have nowhere else to go.

As a teen I couldn't remove the corrupt board. I didn't have the power to fire the workers. But I could remind the elderly that they were important, they were needed. That they did matter.

Introducing LIFT (Literacy Is the Foundation of Tomorrow). One of these branches was launched in my school as a letter writing project where students could contribute their A5 doodles or writings. At first I thought, knew, it would fail. When I presented it to the students that first day I could already hear how stupid it sounded.

Creating letters for the elderly. What kind of teenager would want to do that?

Apparently a decent amount. In my school of 200 I have already received about 30 letters after starting the project 2 weeks ago. That means 30 elders can receive the knowledge that they are loved. 30 people's live could be changed forever.

That is just the beginning. This is only Project 1 in my long list of ideas to bring change in my community. Make sure to follow so that I can share more of my experiences as I continue on this journey.

If you want to bring LIFT to your school please email StoryBridgeTeens@gmail.com. Let's start changing the world. TOGETHER. (Time to insert the High School Musical Theme Song)