School: Walt Whitman High

SchoolGrade: 11th

Who Inspires Me: My Grandfather

 

My independent service Project was a book Drive to 3 very important places.I reached out to the Long Island Veteran Home in Stony Brook, the volunteer department of Huntington Hospital, and Kathy Giffuni from the Dolan FamilyHealth Center here in Huntington wondering if they would be willing to accept used and/or new books. Once I spoke to them it became clear exactly what books were needed and for which place.

So I designed a flyer where I stated the reason for the book Drive, my contact information, what books were needed, and where these books would be donated. Once the flyer was approved I posted it on my social media channels. I got an overwhelming response from family and friends which prompted me to push the deadline back further in order to get as many books as possible. Once the deadline came about I separated the books into categories and into which place they were going. I then put them in boxes and arranged the best times to stop by and drop off the books.

In the end we came out to approximately 180 books for the hospital, 246 for the Dolan Family Health Center, and 125 for the Veterans home.  They were all extremely grateful and it was an amazing experience. It made me realize that I can really make a difference in my community if I put my mind to it and put a lot of hard work into something.