Inner City Mission Trips
My youth group in high school went on a week-long mission trip each summer to different inner cities working with the homeless population at various shelters and organizations. We went to Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, and Baltimore, MD, each for a week. While there, I worked with underprivileged children at a sports camp, vacation bible school, and Salvation Army. It was a rewarding experience getting to work with children of all ages, playing games, teaching them, and completing fun activities to keep them engaged during the time that we had with them.
Rainbow Express Camp for Children with Special Needs
Rainbow Express is a camp that was started by my youth minister over 16 years ago at my hometown church. It is a week-long summer day camp for children ages 3-23 with special needs. I was a camp counselor for six summers and was on the youth planning committee during my senior year of high school. This experience with children helped me to grow to want to become a teacher even more and work with children with special needs in the mainstreamed classroom.
Ronald McDonald House Charities
My sorority's philanthropy was the Ronald McDonald House Charities. We would travel to the Ronald McDonald House of Durham during the school year and make dinner for the families and children that were staying at the house. We also would host two large philanthropy events benefitting the Ronald McDonald House of Durham. I was able to help raise money for this charity each philanthropy event that we hosted as well as interact with the children at the house when we would make them dinner or dessert.