On Tuesday, March 14th, the Young Ambassador (YA) class of 2023 met with Hockey Helps, an HLFYA program supporter, for a service learning event. During this event, the class learned about how grantmaking organizations make a donation and the factors that influence the decision to fund a particular project. YAs were then split into breakout rooms consisting of teams of 3-4 members. Each team was then designated a borough and given around 30 minutes to find a project to support through the website DonorsChoose. The teams were each tasked with presenting their project and an argument for why that project deserved to be funded to Hockey Helps Founder Jim Flanagan, Zack Lamberti and Meredith Wolff. After much deliberation, the judges decided that they would donate to all of the projects. The teams and the projects they chose to fund were as follows:
Room 1, which was assigned to helping educators located in the Bronx, was led by Luke, Colton, and Ava. After reviewing the selections of projects to help, they choose two projects for a total of $526 and impacting a total of 72 students. The first grant would provide an iPad for an elementary school teacher to help her students learn math and English. The second grant would provide legos for a lego club run by the school.
Room 2, which was assigned to helping educators located in Brooklyn, was led by Teddy, Charlotte and James. Room 2 decided to fund one project that would cost $511 and reach 24 students. The funding would be used to buy a multitude of supplies, such as a table for small groups, flair pens to publish the writing units of the students, new technology like a timer, and book baskets for the library.
Room 3, which was assigned to helping educators located in Manhattan, was led by Jack, Kylie, Grayson and Shaina. Room 3 chose to fund a project worth $594 and impacting 172 students. The funding was to be used to purchase an iPad for students with disabilities and who also needed assistance with visual, auditory and tactical learning.
Room 4, which was assigned to helping educators located in Queens, was led by myself along with HLFYA classmates Jackson and Joseph. Room 4 chose to fund an educator requesting $482 for 29 students. The project was aimed at assisting English language learns, who needed guided reading books and anchor charts with an easel pad for visual learning to better support the students.
Overall, I think I speak for all the YAs when I say I had a great time at this event and truly felt like I had a direct role in and made a direct contribution to making a difference in other people’s lives. I look forward to continuing my journey as a YA throughout this year.
Written by 2023 HLFYA Keira Liconte
