SERVING OUR COMMUNITY
by: Chenzura Still
Did you know more than 7,000 people are homeless in the District of Columbia (DC)? In DC, the homeless population increased by 34% 2006-2009. That was only the people who were counted. There could be more out there. The homeless survive by asking people for money so they can buy a meal. They also go to homeless shelters to eat, and to have a place to live.
Our Builders Club may be small in number but we are big in solving problems and we are very concerned about this problem. A classmate suggested that we can have a bake sale fundraiser to collect money for the homeless. We have also had drives for toiletries for the homeless at DC General Hospital. Our club has been serious about the homeless for a lot of years.Homelessness is very important to our club because an 8 year old student, who was at a school in our school district, disappeared, and 3 years later she is still not found. Our Builders Club has projects to help but we are only one club, the only one in the District of Columbia.
My family is also concerned about the homeless. My family helped a homeless person named “J”. My aunt found her not sleeping in a house. Then she took her to our house. My family let her stay for a few days, and then she left because she was offered to live in someone’s house.
Our Builders Club is also concerned about pollution. When people litter, it causes other people to litter because the area is not clean to start with. Then when it rains, the water takes the trash to the sewers. Then the sewers take the trash to the sea, and that causes pollution.
Same as the last paragraph, I think people vandalize buildings because they do not care for their community. I think when people vandalize buildings it causes other people to not care about their community, and that is horrible. I believe people become vandals when they do not have a clean community.
Gardens help clean our community. When you have gardens, it makes community cleaner and then, hopefully, there would not be as much vandalism or litter. At our school, we have a garden. In the garden, some builders club members monitored some 1st graders. We told them about the plants. Some of the plants were Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, and others I can not remember.
I believe all schools should have a garden. In schools, students can choose what they want to work on and some may want to learn about the garden. I believe gardens are an extension to the classroom.
This year we supported many events, including cancer. This year, instead of wearing our costumes the Builders Club and K-kids wore pink and blue to support a cure for cancer for Breast Cancer Month. Being a part of Builders Club, having my peers, club members and those in my school community stand up for cancer instead of focusing on Halloween made me proud because when I was 8, my grandma had breast cancer, but she survived, and I am happy for that.
I’m proud of what the club done. They collected blankets for the Sasha Bruce house. They collected over 40 blankets in one week. The Sasha Bruce house is a place where teens can stay.
As you can see Builders Club is small in number, but big in solving problems. Builders Clubs want to help fix and clean our community and support important events. I hope you enjoyed my essay. I also hope to be included in all the expectations. Bye !