5.12 Process Paper By Jami Greenburg Word Count:499
Once we were assigned this project, we started coming up with what we wanted to do. At first, we wanted to do something involving animals, preferably dogs. So, we searched up many service opportunities in this area, hoping to find one that works for our schedules. After researching animal shelters, we learned they wouldn’t let anyone under the age of eighteen volunteer, so we tried pet centers instead. But, nothing worked. After more research, Ava asked her brother for ideas. He said that him and the scouts have gone to this foundation thing to help pack meals for children who don’t have enough food over the weekends. We decided that would be a good idea, so Ava contacted the 5.12 foundation for more information. Childhood hunger is a huge problem all over Utah and the United States. I knew about it, but I didn’t really think so many hungry families lived near us. As we researched this topic, we learned more about how this is such a big problem, and why we need to help. For some kids, their main meal is school lunch, because they don’t have anything at home. Now that we are aware of how big this problem is and how we can help, the 5.12 foundation was the perfect way to help in a small way. We learned they are located at a small building near Timberline, where they meet every Wednesday night at 6:00 to pack meals for over the weekend. So, we got together and went there a few days later. Once at the 5.12 foundation, we realized a lot more people knew about it than we thought. There were so many groups there that wanted to help this cause. The lady in charge led us into a small building, where there were many huge buckets of different packaged food, such as pudding and mac and cheese. We got into two assembly lines, and went through with a bag, collecting one of each item. We also helped unpackage things to put into the buckets. A problem we had was with finding something to do. We called the Willow Creek Pet Center, and they said we could come help, and they said they’d call us back. After about a week, we still hadn’t heard anything, so we call them again, and this time they said we actually couldn’t help, which was a setback. This project relates to the theme making a difference, because without the 5.12 foundation, many kids would go hungry over the weekend. This foundation has helped make a difference to thousands of kids, who now can eat over the weekend. At first, we were disappointed we couldn’t take care of dogs. But after everything, I’m really glad we did this. Because now, we were able to help many kids have food over the weekend, and with the 5.12 foundation, childhood hunger will hopefully not be as big of a problem, and maybe one day no child will have to go hungry.