See It: The Community being helped

One day I was walking through the streets of Boston and decided I should blow my nose. Nobody wants to carry around a tissue full of snot in their pockets so the next logical action was to find a trash can to slam dunk my tissue in. After five blocks I didn't see a single trash can. At this point many people would throw it on the ground but I was determined to find a trash can even if it took me ten blocks. After my fourteenth block I finally found a trash can. This is when it hit me. The reason why people litter so much is not because they hate the environment but because they don't have the patience to carry around their trash. Have you ever seen someone litter when they were standing next to a trash can? Probably not, because if they are going to throw it they might as well throw it in the trash. I think that everyone should have there own trash can that they customize and put out for public use. Then no one would have an excuse to litter. You can paint your name on your trash can or you can put points on the side and paint it to look like a basket ball hoop! You can have a trash can that says "Kyle + Sarah Forever", or you and your buddies can write an inside joke on it! They would be works of art and they would catch everyones eye who passed by. Famous artist would sculpt there own trash cans to look like volcanos, businesses could advertise for free on them! Trash cans could be used as memorials for a lost pet, or a way to let someone know about a missing person! How cool would it be to be able to say. "Hey look there's my trash can, I did that with my first grade class ten years ago!"

See It: The Community being helped

Essay 1

I am Natasha Bussy. I’m 16 years old and I am senior at University City High School. Before that I was at elementary school at Blankenberg and middle school at Sulzberger. I grew up in West Philadelphia and I care a lot about my community. I guess you could say I am a community food activist and I want to be a leader in my community. When I was a freshman in high school I volunteered to work in the garden at my school. After I turned 14 in December 2004 I got job as a peer food educator in June 2005. That summer I was part of a crew of high school students that taught children in the community how to cook healthy foods. We taught at a church, a private school and a homeless shelter. Over the summer we taught more than 100 children 5 different healthy recipes. I was student leader of the peer cooking program until April 2007 when I switched back to working in the garden. The garden promotes access to healthy foods because we harvest twice a week and sell our organic produce in our community and we also donate to churches. I like being involved in this kind of work because it feels good to make a difference in my community and as a young leader I need to show people that young black people do care about making their communities stronger and healthier. I want to see more healthy foods in community, more access to fruits and vegetables, more youth with a passion to make things better. I want to see a healthier community and I believe it can start with food which is something every person needs.

Poor nutrition and obesity are problems in my community. People stay inside their houses too much and they don’t exercise. I think a lot of people think you have to join a gym and lift weights to get in shape. I really think people have lost the knowledge of just how to exercise on their own. Also people in my community do not have access to healthy foods. Most people shop at cornerstores and there are not a lot of healthy foods in these stores. Most people in my community do know nutrition basics – don’t eat too much salt or you will get high blood pressure, don’t eat too much sugar or you will get diabetes. But people don’t know much about whole grains and fiber and about good fats and bad fats. People might think about food in a negative way because so many people are overweight. I would like healthy foods to be the focus of an ongoing community celebration.

Essay 2

As you can tell from Essay # 1 I have a lot of experience improving nutrition in my community. You could say that I have been doing research for this project for the past 3 years. Me and my organization already have many good things started but I want to expand to reach more people. I want to do this through a youth-led project that I call Healthy Block Party on Wheels. My team of youth gardeners and peer food educators will partner with young athletes and create a program that we can take to the streets to educate thousands of people in my community. Block parties are a big tradition in Philly. Every Saturday from May to September there are tons of parties. Usually there are lots of kids and families at the parties and also a lot chips, hot dogs, burgers and soda. I think block parties are a great time to reach people and teach them about nutrition, exercise and health. The Healthy Block Party on Wheels will have three major parts; 1) We will do a healthy cooking demonstration; 2) We will sell healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables, just like our farmers’ market; 3) We will have music and do an organized stretching, dancing, and aerobics activity. I think this will be a great addition to block parties but we could also take this same program to after-school clubs during the winter months when there are not block parties. Also, this will become part of what people in Philadelphia do, just like block parties. Now at block parties people will exercise, especially children, people will snack on healthy foods, people will learn a new recipe. Soon, I hope people will start demanding healthy foods in cornerstores and cornerstores will take note that people are eating a whole lot of healthy foods at block parties. Also what I like about this project is that it is very visible. People will see young people biking around their community with a message of health, fitness and fun to deliver to block parties and they will know that young people are working hard to lift up their neighborhood.

Essay 3

This project will happen in communities out in West and North Philadelphia starting in May 2008 and going to at least December 2008. We hope and believe that we can keep the project going longer than that. We will need to start preparing for the project in January 2008. We need to purchase bicycles, cooking supplies, yoga mats, exercise equipment, a boom box and bicycle carts that will allow us to move all these supplies around the community.

Healthy Block Party on Wheels Budget

4 Bicycles (Used) $300
Bike Trailers/ Carts $300

Yoga Mats $200
Exercise Equipment $200

Boom Box $50

Food for Cooking Demos $900
Cooking Supplies $300

Healthy Block Party T Shirts $250

Total $2500

See It: The Community being helped

Our MISSION is to provide a strong foundation for future generations by providing ALL children with an alternative to drugs, alcohol, crime, gangs and the streets, promote the importance of school, self-esteem, self-respect, respect for others and their community, and strengthen the goals and values that will lead them to a successful future. We are a special kind of BMX racing team. Members join and sign a Code of Conduct contract. Equipment, ABA membership fees and track racing fees are either paid for by the parents or through a scholarship from the team based upon family income and size. At the end of a year, if the member has followed the code, maintained good grades in school and showed the sportsmanship and dedication required, they are given their bike, uniform, helmet and asked to join for another year. Some of our children have special needs and may be troubled youth. Any violations to the code are handled on an individual basis, as are grade requirements in school. If a child is having trouble in school, we will try to help with tutoring to raise their grade average. There is a Zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol. We are looking for adults who love children and want to help us provide them with the skills that will lead them to a successful future. All volunteers must be willing to submit to a background check (for the safety of both the volunteers and the children). It would be beneficial if the volunteers participated in adult moto classes at the BMX track and knew bike maintenance. You can learn more about us, how we started and why we are forming our team by viewing our web page at: http://sponsorhouse.loopd.com/Members/ExtremeStrengthBMX/Home.aspx We have wonderful sponsors that are helping us get started. Some great BMX companies are offering us equpment at substantial discounts. We want to create teams of 10 members with 2 adult volunteers per team. We started our first team on July 1 and we are preparing to start our second team. We sincerely hope that the success we are seeing in our own community will spread to other communities and race tracks, and they will join us, spreading our team across the country. We hope you will join us in helping children to become successful adults while enjoying their childhood. If you have any questions we can answer, please feel free to contact us at . We'd love to hear from you.

See It: The Community being helped

My Dad and I have started a BMX racing team in our community. Dad is helping me to contact Foster Care, Integral Youth Services, The Angel Project, Child Development, the local military base and other orgaizations to reach children who are going though problems in their lives. They may be from families with gang orientation, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, abuse, divorce, deployment or parent death. These children may have emotional or physical problems. We are creating a team "family" to promote dedication, respect, sportsmanship and teamwork to form values these kids can use all their lives. We want to help troubled kids stay off drugs, alcohol, stay out of gangs, stay in school, away from crime and off the streets. They must sign a contract with their parent(s)/guardian saying they will abide by our Code of Conduct for a full year. They are given a uniform, bike, helmet, a year's membership in the American Bicycle Association and a year's racing fees at the local track (and any other track we may travel to when racing). At the end of the year, if they have not broken their contract, they are given all the equipment and are asked to remain a member of the team for another year. When they outgrow equipment, they are asked to "trade" it with us, and we will give them the next size bike, helmet or uniform under the same terms. We race twice a week, practice once a week, will be holding fund raisers and community service projects. Sponsors will be promoted on our equipment, team vehicles, bikes, signs at all our events and on our website(s). We currently have a web page up and running that shows our Code of Conduct and describes our project. This will be an ongoing project for many years to come and we want it to spread to other BMX tracks throughout the country. Please visit our site for more information. Thank you!www.sponsorhouse.com/Members/ExtremeStrengthBMX/Default.aspx