See It: The Community being helped
When a tsunami wreaked havoc on Indonesia two years ago, the tragedy struck home. I, too, live in a disaster-prone community. Tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions are all highly plausible occurrences. I wanted to do something to ensure that if a natural disaster struck my community, families would be prepared. I looked for materials that would instruct young children on what to do and what to expect in an emergency. I checked the library, wondering if there were any storybooks about natural disasters, but found none. Understanding what was happening would help alleviate the stress that children would experience. Determined to create something to instruct children, I decided that a storybook would be the best route. Children would be interested because the books would have actual stories, about kids like them, not just facts. Because parents would be reading these books to their children, they would learn as well. I began to research, and then write, my first book. Several months later, I finished Heidi and the Tsunami, complete with full pastel illustrations. I included a “Tips for Parents” page and a “Fun Facts” page. I contacted my Borough Office of Emergency Management, and asked if they would be interested in helping to publish my book. I was thrilled when they replied that they loved my book and would help to solicit funds for printing! Meanwhile, I began work on my second and third books in the series, Molly and the Earthquake and James and the Volcano. The first printing of Heidi and the Tsunami was for 1,000 books, and they were given to every kindergartner and public library on the Kenai Peninsula, an area of 25,000 square miles. Seeing my books with glossy pages and saddle-stitch bindings was one of the coolest moments of my life. Throughout the year, a combination of corporate sponsors and local, state, and federal funding accumulated, allowing the other two books to be printed, as well as reprints of Heidi and the Tsunami. The Borough Office of Emergency Management requested that I consider writing a book on wildfires, so I spent the first month of summer vacation researching, writing, and illustrating Spencer and the Wildfire. As of last August, 29,000 copies of my books have been printed. Each elementary teacher in our school district was given a set of my four books for use in the classroom. In addition, sponsors of my books are distributing copies to communities throughout my state. Speaking at my town’s Chamber of Commerce meeting, at a school board meeting, and to peers at a state student government conference have all helped to raise awareness of the need for disaster preparedness. This April, I traveled to Oregon to speak at the Soroptimist conference and have received many requests for my books. I sent enough books for one of Oregon’s senators to distribute copies to every elementary school in her district. It has been amazing to watch my project grow. Some of the most rewarding experiences occur when I travel to different elementary classrooms and preschools and talk to the kids about disaster preparedness. try to excite them about volunteering in the community and teach them to never doubt their potential to accomplish great things.
Believe it: Describe your project/org
Build it: Steps taken to create the project/org and the kind of impact made
Vital Stats
| Started On: | 4/04 | Ended On: | continuing |
| People Involved: | many | People Impacted: | ? In addition to giving out the books, copies are available at libraries and on-line, the total number of people affected is hard to gauge. |
| Money Raised: | $2,700 for the school district, plus sponsors donated enough money to have 29,000 books printed | | |
Project Updates:
Though my project has been very successful, there are several things that, in retrospect, I wish I had done differently. When I wrote my first book, Heidi and the Tsunami, I drew the pictures on the same page as the words. This made it difficult for the pictures to be scanned, and on the second reprinting, they actually had to go in with computers to slightly alter the designs so that the picture’s printing quality could be improved. I did the drawings separately for the next three books, which worked out very well. Another thing that I would do differently would be to set up a way for people to order the books, perhaps online, if they wished. The books are currently given out at health fairs, are available for checkout from public libraries, and were given to every kindergartener on the peninsula. This means that if someone else wants copies, there is not a good way for people in other states to receive them. Because sponsors paid to have the books printed, there is no charge for the books. However, it would have been nice if there was a way for people to order the books online for a price that would then go to cover the cost of the books being printed. Now that I am in college, it is more difficult to oversee my project, though the nice thing about books is that they will continue to help as long as kids continue to read them.
I did a unique sort of volunteering in the sense that I did not rally together a group of kids to go fundraise for a cause or create a new organization. Many books have been written before, and they have proven to be very effective tools; I found a new area where that tool could be used. I contacted community members to gather information for my books and worked through local organizations to find funding for the project. My primary role was to write and illustrate the books, weaving in all the important safety information while still keeping the books interesting and accessible to young children. Members of organizations, such as Glenda Landua of the Borough Office of Emergency Management, helped to find the funding and to oversee the logistics of scanning and sending the books away to be printed. The GameStop funding was great because it helped to get another group involved in natural disaster preparedness: teachers and administrators at schools. The money will train administrators from lots of different schools who will then be able to train the teachers of their schools. Now that 29,000 books are in circulation and the administrative training has begun, the future is looking much brighter.
It has been wonderful to see the effect of that one small decision I made to try and help preschoolers learn about disaster preparedness through story books. Volunteering is great because it is such a qualitative activity, with amazing plasticity. Sometimes people get so used to doing what I like to call quantitative volunteering (for example, working at x location for y number of hours) that they begin to forget about the other myriad volunteer options. I would especially encourage other students with very tight or crazy schedules to try this type of volunteering, because you get to set your own hours and it is your personal desire to help that drives the force behind your work.
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