Postponement of Car Wash Fundraiser

At last weeks meeting we decided to postpone the car wash fundraiser that was supposed to occur that following saturday. We decided to do this because there weren't going to be any teacher there and everybody was exhausted from the car washes, we were all just tired and worn out from them especially the people who have been to every car wash fundraiser so far. I think that it was a good idea to postpone the fundraiser because then we would have a break and have a chance to gather ourselves and think of possible new fundraisers or the fundraising to occurr over the summer.

The teachers talked to us about how they are just going to leave it up to us now, which I think is a great idea because then we can get more ideas going for new fundraisers for the fall or possibly over the summer. Shannon Walsh told us how one of her friends made cans with their pictures on them and put these cans in stors where people could put their loose money into. She said that her friend raised a lot of money, if I recall correctly she said that her friend raised over or in the thousands range. I think it's a great idea, however the teachers said we could leave if we wanted to and a lot of people did. On the bright side Vani and I went up to Shannon and said that we'd be more than happy to do something like this and would help work it out. We still have got some bumps to figure out like where to put the cans and who and when we will check on them over the summer. I said I'd write something to go onto the can, something about what the donation would go to and about what we're fundrasing for. I think I should write that there will be car wash fundraisers over the summer, which might bring in more customers to the car wash fundraisers.

Also, we plan on this coming week to get into small groups and brainstorm about new ideas for fundraising. I think that it would be great because then we could prepare early for the fall and possibly raise a lot more money than if we were to just come in in september and have to brainstorm them. Precious time would be lost if we don't brainstorm now and think of ideas in the fall, time is money!

Car Wash and Yard Sale

This Saturday, on the 29th of May, we had another fundraiser. We had both a yard sale and a car wash going on at the same time. Even though there was a lot more events going on a the same time we were still able to handle everything with organization.

I thought this weeks fundraiser went farely well. The car wash was a little slower than last weeks and there weren't many customers at the yard sale. However, I believe we raised over nine hundred dollars because Zack Fayne said he collected roughly five hundred dollars in the morning plus about $150 in the afternoon and about three hundred and fifty dollars with the yard sale, however I don't know for sure how much we earned so it's an assumption. Although there were fewer cars this weekend than last weekend we were still able to reel in plently of cars. Also, with the yard sale it was more of a struggle to sell stuff than to bring customers in for the car wash.

In the beginning of the car wash Vani, Hannah, and I went out to South St. (I believe that's the street) and used signs and our voices to bring in customers. From the start we felt like nobody really wanted their cars washed and they weren't really coming in, but we convinced ourselves that it was just the morning and that nobody was really ready to have their cars washed. After about and hour or so we decided to get someone else to do it. We started helping out washing cars but there were only a few of them there, so I decided to go see what was happening at the yard sale. The yard sale was about the same as the car wash, very few people. It was sad to see so few people at the yard sale because we worked so hard to get it organized, especially Ms. Kirk, and we set it up to the best of our ability and no one really seemed interested. At one point Omar and I went out to the streets and sidewalks and handed out flyers about the yard sale and car wash. Even then no one really seemed interested, they just didn't really care. There were some people that were like "Ooh yea I'll go check it out" but others just completely rejected it. Although the day didn't seem like it was going anywhere I am super excited to see how much we raised.

One awesome thing about the entire day was that while a lady, Karen, was getting her car washed she offered us summer jobs at Sea Breeze which is right on Main Street near Katy's Ice Cream. I was super excited and she said to come by on monday, tuesday or wednesday. It really shows that our cause is getting around, she said that she loves what we're doing (raising money for Morocco and such). What a great way to end the dat; to get a summer job for Morocco which might have gotten you the job was just the cherry on top!

Second Fundraiser!

This weekend, just Saturday, we had another car wash and raised about $940! We were all extremely excited, most of us probably thought that we wouldn't raise as much money as last weekends nevermind over last weeks amount. We all worked really hard and had a great time while doing it. Although this time there were much less customers, at least I think there were, we were still able to raise over last saturday's amount which is a huge accomplishment. It wasn't as fast paced or crowded as it was last saturday (there were probably at most five or six cars in the parking lot for the car wash at a time), but people donated more money and it was a different crowd. Even with one or two other car washes going on we were still able to raise over last saturday's amount. Supposidly there was a car wash at the Barnstable Recreationally Center that was charging twenty dollars for a car wash, and someone saw that their parking lot was very scarce. Just goes to show that our idea, or Senorita Briggs' idea, really works out great and is far better than asking for a price.

I went outside the box and took a risk by attempting to work with a sign. Lizz and I worked together at the same time so it was a lot more fun, we were very enthusiastic. Ms. Kirk actually came over to us and told us to stop because they were getting an overload and because the cars were going entering the line in the wrong direction. We were very enthusiastic which probably helped to bring customers in. We did the wave with our signs, like they do at baseball games, which one customer said that that is what brought him in and thought it was awesome. When we were out on sing duty a lot of cars came in so I really feel that we helped a lot to bring the cars in. Also, since there weren't as many cars there seemed to be a lot more people working; there was actual opportunities where you could go an get water or pizza and have a quick respite.

One downfall was that there were people on Main street or the business owners that told us that we were being too loud on Main street. Voice projection on Main street will have to be another issue that we will have to deal with and find a way around. We could make more signs and have more people along Main street, but today we could not because there was somewhat of a shortage on sign people or people willing to do signs. I look forward to next weekend with the yard sale and car wash, I believe that we will raise over $1,000 or even more. More importantly, todays car wash was extremely fun and it became really enjoyable for everyone, which was a great advantage to getting more customers to donate because happiness and laughter is contagious.

First Fundraiser: Car Wash

This weekend the Morocco Team had their first major fundraiser, that is a fundraiser where the students organized it and prepared for it. The fundraiser was a car wash and was actually postponed once, so this was the rain date. It was a major success! We raised over $895 and plan on having two more car wash fundraisers the coming weekends.

We all arrived around 9:30 am and the fundraiser started at 10:00 am and cars immediately started coming in. Car after car almost non-stop until around 10:30 where there was a little break. At this point Mr. Steedman told us we had already raised about $130, which was a great start. After that point there were absolutely no breaks, the cars kept on coming and there were somewhat of backups. The parking lot became overflowed at some points. It was such a major success and everyone had fun while doing it.

During the car wash I did many jobs, and so did everyone else. There were a few picked students that went on main anad south street with signs saying "free car wash," but most of us worked in the parking lot either scrubbing, rinsing or drying the cars. I think almost everyone did every job, at least I know I did. More importantly, I didn't see one person stick to one job, just in the beginning when there were less jobs and less people helping were there more strict jobs. For a while there were just two or three people using the hoses and the scrubbers and dryers would do both scrubbing and drying. I believe I did my best and tried my hardest during the car wash. I scrubbed, dried, and rinsed the cars and only stopped once or twice to get a sip of water. I really wanted to keep helping and keep the cars going, and I didn't want the people to get irritated and leave because we were taking to long. Also, the main reason I didn't volunteer to help out with the signs is because I feel like I could do a lot better and more helping to clean the cars. Overall, I think I did my best and can't wait for the car washes coming up.

One thing I could probably improve upon is maybe go out of my comfort zone or challenge myself in working with the signs. Although I don't think I would be good at all in drawing people in, I'm more of a quiet, hard-working person than talking and forcing or making people go to the car wash (I'm not good at forcing people to do things and think that they just don't care). If a person doesn't come it will make me think that they don't care and make me feel disappointed and want to give up, I most likely will think that there's someone way better that can do this job a hundred times better than me. Maybe instead I can work on talking to the customers while cleaning their cars, like if their outside of their car or something and maybe that will make them more generous to donate more money.

One thing that could be improved upon could be making sure that all of the customers have been spoken to about what we're trying to do here, what cause the donations are going to, and why they should donate; in other words to convince them to donate and tell a little more about what we're doing to help spread the word. I think that there were a lot of cars that weren't spoken to probably because we didn't know if they were spoken to or not. There were a couple of times where we asked each other if the person or persons had given a donation already. Also, even with our success there were a lot of cars that didn't give any donation which could be partly because we didn't talk to them. Something else we could work on is making sure what step the car is at in the car wash, I remember a few times we didn't know if the car had been rinsed the first or second time.

For the coming up car washes we plan to be in multiple places, have more supplies, and hopefully raise more money. We had a great idea and have the ability to have car washes in different places. For example, Vani, a fellow student, knows someone or her father works at a fire station and offered to let us host a car wash at the fire station. So there could be two places in the same day where we could have car wash fundraisers. Two times more the probability of raising double the money. It's a great idea, and there wil definitely need to be more supplies if we have two different car washes. One flaw with our car wash was that we kept running out of towels. The towels became drenched fast, it took forever for them to dry, and there was no place to dry them. We had to bring out chairs to dry some towels, but even after that it took an extreme amount of time for the towels to dry. So at the next fundraisers a student or a couple of students volunteered to bring in some sort of drying racks for the towels.

The Beginning of the Itinerary

Today we had a very important meeting for Morocco, we started the beginnings of our itinerary. At first one of the World Challenge leaders told us about the different things we could do. For example, there are eight different treks, two different 'relax and reflect,' and two different projects. Unfortunately with the amount of time we'll be staying in Morocco, about twelve days, we can only choose two things from the three different categories. The eight different treks include Amezmiz, Mount Toubkal, High Atlas, M'Goun, Dades Gorge, and Todra Gorge. For the relax and reflect options we had the choice of a camel ride or doing things in Marrakech. For the different projects one was more near the desert and would need possible irrigation help, while the other is a hospital. We ended up deciding on three different itineraries, Option 1 being a project and camel ride, Option 2 being a project and trek in M'Goun, and Option 3 being a project and a trek in Dades Gorge. However these aren't final.

Throughout this meeting I was so excited, just deciding on what we're going to do brings us that more closer. Also, it gave us a better look at what it'd be like and what we might experience. I came into the meeting having no idea what I wanted to do, but I thought we'd be able to do all three. So at the beginning of the meeting when he told us we only had two choices I had no idea what to do, but as the meeting went on and I saw how many people were willing to do something I wanted to do I knew what itinerary I wanted. However, there are people that are hoping that this isn't the final decision for the different itineraries. I do have one question though, it seemed during the meeting that the teams or groups would be divided up by who wants to do what itinerary, which is fine but there was only one friend that I actually knew that wants to do the same thing. I don't want to be lonely on the trip and have no one to talk to. It wouldn't be as fun I guess, but maybe that's what this is all about experiencing knew things and meeting new people or getting closer to them. Overall, I am elated and can't wait for the next itinerary meeting or just the next meeting!

Morocco-Week Four

In week four we finally began to promote our fundraiser, the car wash. There were jobs set, like Lizz and Clarisse making posters and flyers. Also, there became a group leader and writer. Samantha Bruce became and the group leader and I became the group writer. I had been writing down information from the past group meetings with the car wash group so it only seemed logical to assign me as group writer. I like the task, it makes me feel like were getting somewhere and I know that I'll do a good job at reminding people to bring in supplies for the car wash.

Each week when we meet it makes the trip seem more and more real, and I am so excited for the fundraiser. I think it will be really fun and possibly raise a lot of money. I have heard from a few classmates in the group that saying that the car wash is free but will accept donations is a lot more effective than having a price. They said that people have donated a lot more than the car wash would have asked for, I really hope it works. Also, I hope that people have been promoting the even with the flyers, I know I have. I have told a lot of family members and plan on going door-to-door in my neighborhood or if I can't put them on their front steps. One idea I came up with was to put the flyers in people's windshield whipers on Main Street. I think it would help a lot because obviously they've been to Hyannis before, possibly come there often, and probably knows where Sturgis is. It could bring a lot of people to the car wash.

One thing I'm sort of nervous about is there being an overload of cars at one point. I don't want them to leave because they're getting impatient and we aren't washing fast enough, but I have doubt that that is going ot happen. I'm also really excited for the itinerary meeting this week on the sixth because then we'll get to decide what we want to do, and I desperately want to stop at Spain (which I heard could be a possibility). I'm super pumped for this trip and the fundraising, the ideas sound amazing and so much fun. I think that we will be able to raise a lot of money because we know we have to and are deteremined, hard-working students that will stop at nothing to reach our goal.

Morocco-Week Two and Three

In the previous week, the first week of April, the smaller groups met to think of fundraising ideas. I was in Mr. Fetzer's group and we came up with two main fundraisers for the month of April and May. However, it took us a while to get there; we met at least three times that week until the larger Morocco group meeting. Then we discovered that the groups would get larger and we'd be working with at least three other groups about one fundraiser. Although, during the days in the smaller group with Mr. Fetzer it worked pretty well. After two group meetings we were ready to actually do a fundraiser, which we had decided on a car wash. We figured out who would bring what, where it would be, when, and who would be able to be there. Unfortunately the groups were made larger and given different fundraisers to do. On the bright side of that though, the more people we have I think the more likely we'll be able to spread the word.

In the larger group meeting our group included the groups of Senorita Briggs, Mr. Steedman, Madame O'Keefe, and Mr. Fetzer, where are group was supposed to work on a fundraiser that was chosen, Movie-Night. I think it's a great idea, but the large group made it difficult to decide on things and cooperate. For example, we couldn't really decide what movie or movies we should show, however we did decide that it'd be a two movie feature. One movie we decided on for the adult audience was Yes Man with Jim Carey, and for the children we decicided on Princess Bride. I really think that we can choose a better movie than Princess Bride because what little boy would want to see Princess Bride. I think that they'd come to see one of the Harry Potter movies or one of the Pirates of the Caribbean because boys like action not girly movies with princesses and brides. Also, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean are very alluring to both boys and girls. Another example, the large group wouldn't listen or cooperate with each other, which is very frustrating when you're trying to get a fundraiser going and actually do it. There were smaller groups talking to each other sometimes about the fundraiser but probably other stuff at some times too. It really is hard to work on a fundraiser when not everyone is working together. Also, a lot of the students were talking all at once which made it even harder, but then some people decided to call on the people who were raising their hands which led to the smaller groups talking to each other again. I believe it was a really unsuccessful meeting, there were just too many people that wouldn't listen and at one point people just walked out like it was over. We could've gotten more stuff done, but since it might have seemed like it was over they just left. I really wish we kept our smaller groups because it would've been a lot more productive and could've done a lot more fundraising.

Although the larger group fundraising was unsuccessful, so was the smaller group at first. In the beginning of the smaller groups it was hard to get things done because again people would go into smaller convesations, and I did tell them to stop in an aggressive way, I told them to shoosh, which I completely regret because it wasn't very nice. However, it did make the group start listening and we began getting stuff done, so it was both a good and a bad thing.

Over this weekend, the 10th and 11th, there were two fundraisers that were optional to the Morocco group. Students had the opportunity to go to Mr. Hyer's home and make chili, chicken sandwiches, and vegetarian chili and do spring cleaning for him and another house. Secondly, on the 11th you could go the annual Sturgis SPA Auction to serve the chili and chicken sandwiches to the people at the auction. I went to both and found them really fun. At Mr. Hyer's house we arrived around ten in the morning, the first things we did was grill and cut the ingredients for the chilis. There were many ingredients to prepare, like seventy cloves of garlic! I really did have fun though because I got to learn how to make, pretty much, Mr. Hyer's famous chili and hang out with some of my friends and get closer to other students. We all really worked well together, I don't think there could have been a better group at Mr. Hyer's house. Also, we raked his yard and a neighbors yard. It took us the rest of the day, but before lunch we were working too and we were all so hungry. It had been a long time since breakfast and we were losing a lot of energy working pretty much constantly to the point where probably Mr. Hyer got annoyed. In the end he fed us and we got rejuvinated, which let us rake his yard with so much more energy. At the end of the day we bagged almost seventy bags of leaves and pine needles. There were so many bags and I bet everyone was like "woah we did that many!" After we raked we took out patio furniture from the neighbors house over to Mr. Hyer's house, and at one point we found a dead squirrel! I wasn't personally there but it was gross, but then it got better and more fun because we burried it in his backyard! Overall, that day was really fun and it made the people there closer than the probably ever would have gotten.

On the second day of the weekend, the 11th, was the SPA Auction. I arrived at 10:30 (the time we were supposed to arrive) and no one was there but one other person and I. So we called Mr. Hyer and found out that there's supposed to be twenty-eight people there, but there were none (but people did end up showing up). Later in the day, when the auction actually started we were all pumped up to sell his delicious chili and thought that it would be as crowded as Twin Acres on their two for one sale (an ice cream place). However, only a few customers came and bought our chili. The auction was really slow too, there were probably not even over fifty people, probably much less. It was sadening, in the end both SPA and the Morocco Team each earned a hundred and seventy dollars, roughly. I think that that was great seeming as there were so few people there. On top of that we earned roughly two hundred and fifty dollars at Mr. Hyer's house, which makes me feel more confident that we'll fund most of the money for Morocco. It shows that we are dedicated and are willing to do anything. I am excited to do more fundraising hoping that they will be much more successful and each one will over all bring us that much closer to reaching our goal.

Morocco-Week One

After the first week in planning the Morocco trip I feel that we have actually begun. In this meeting we got into smaller groups to think of ideas for fundraising, like having a field day. I feel that the trip has become even more real and has actually started because thinking up ideas for fundraising is a basic step in trying to raise money. It becomes more real because you are actually starting to do something to help you get your way on going to Morocco.

My excitement for the trip has sky-rocketed because I am getting closer to the actual trip and the fundraising ideas sounded awesome. Being in the room while thinking and talking about different ideas that could potentially raise a lot of money, just put me in the moment that yes you are going to Morocco and you are going to be doing all this stuff like fundraising that is going to be a blast. Others may not agree that every part of this trip is going to be "a blast," but I think it is because how awesome is it to be planning everything about your trip and working to get the money needed. Thinking of all these ideas and day-dreaming of what might become of them makes it exhilerating because how many parents really believe that we are going to raise enough money, let alone all of it. I was thinking about how much money we could earn from all this different ideas and just amazing all the parents would make me feel powerful I guess; like you didn't expect this to come from teenagers but it happened and possibly taking them off balance. Just the fact that we'll be doing everything, especially the fundraisers, and being successful will make me feel like I can do anything. Having a team also makes me feel like we can do anything because I do agree with the sayign "there's a power in numbers," because how many people would donate money or anything to you if it were just you alone. I don't think anyone would because they probably wouldn't believe you.

I am going to contribute as much as possible, I will go up to businesses or find places to hold fundraisers, think of ideas, and do anything else I possibly can. One talent that I have that I think will contribute to the group and etcetera is optimism and believing that we can do anything. For example, if we had a fundraiser that didn't go to well, meaning we didn't raise a lot of money or not a lot of people showed up, I'd boost everyones morals by saying things like "We still go some money and more people know about us" or "We have plenty of other fundraising ideas that we can do, and now we know that this one isn't a huge hit!" Things like that I think help people feel happier, and it's a lot easier to work with happy people than sad and angry people. I sincerely believe that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it and I will tell my group that and keep pushing them to do something unless it is really obvious that it is not possible.

When I meet with my smaller group on Monday I hope to pick a fundraiser and make a dates and etcetera to do the fundraiser. I think that we need to do stuff as soon as possible because the more we get in the more money we will earn. My favorite fundraising idea that I have heard is the field day. I think that it will raise a huge amount of money and be a big success. Everyone would have fun and enjoy themselves, which would also make this fundraiser more appealing because kids will probably coerce their parents to let them go but then they'll end up loving it and possibly telling other people to come too. I see it as a great possibility of being a huge success. Field days are always fun and normally everyone enjoys them, so we could do it multiple times where more and more people will come each time.

I have joined the media team and completely agree with the fact that it is very important to put ourselves out there and having valid and alluring reasons to have businesses and etcetera join us or give us donations. I believe that I didn't participate as much as I wanted to or could have because I don't really know anything about making websites and stuff like downloading pictures and having links. However, I will participate more next time the media team meets by giving out ideas on how the webpage will look or what sort of details should be on it, although I have no idea if we already have a website which I will find out because it essential in participating with the media team and getting Sturgis' name out there business wise. I plan on help building the web site by making businesses want to support and donate to us; to come up with good reasons and explanations on why a business might want to give us donations.

First Morocco Trip Meeting

I signed up for this trip because it's such an amazing opportunity, it's someplace that is less common and more adventurous than France, Spain, or Quebec, and I knew that it'd be more than just going to somewhere and being like a tourist. I think everyone would agree if I said that the trip to Morocco is an opportunity of a life-time. If you're the type of person that loves to travel than this really is an amazing opportunity because it's a place that's so different from places like Spain and France. In this trip you'll be able to help out in small villages, go on a camel ride, and go to the spice market. What other place that Sturgis has gone to has there been the opportunity to help out in villages, go on camel rides, or go to a spice market. You may be able to go to some time of market in France or Spain, but there definitely isn't camel rides or the opportunity to help out in a small village. This trip will also be so much more different than going to Spain or France because you'll go to places that tourists normally don't go to. For example, tourists probably don't normally go to small villages and teach children math or how to speak some english or even build something for the village itself. In France and Spain you'll probably go to all the tourists sites like the Louvre or the Museo del Prado, both being very popular tourism spots. I have never been so excited in my life to go to Morocco. I am just so excited to see a different culture, go somewhere out of the States, and to also be able to help out in some way is just the cherry on top. I've never been out of the United States before and being that Morocco is in Africa makes it so muche more exciting because how many people get to or have been to Africa or Morocco? Also, I am so excited to learn and see a different culture because it just interests me to see how people live and to learn about their traditions, it's going to be so different and that makes it more exciting. Being able to help out in a small village makes this trip even more exciting because we'll be able to help out in some way, whether it be small or big. Unlike other places people travel to they go to the tourist spots and probably spend a lot of money, but in Morocco we'll be spending money, probably not a lot at all, and we'll be able to help some people out. It just makes me feel like I've actually done something to help other than just being there doing nothing. What I am hoping to gain from this trip is an idea or even more about the cultures in Morocco, how they live and what we can do to help them, and being able to adapt or be polite in an atmosphere where there's different traditions.

I plan on doing my best to help contribute to the fundraising by thinking up of ideas for fundraising and participating in the fundraisers themselves. I already have some ideas, but don't exactly know if they're good enough. I had told my mom about one and she was kind of contemplative over it. My idea was to set up lemonade or ice cream stands at beaches during the summer like at the Bordwalk in Sandwich because there's always many people there including tourists, and what a way to take advantage of all the tourists that come on to the Cape. I plan on participating in as many fundraisers as I can. I'm not completely comfortable with the group fundraising, planning, and group activities. They are definitely challenges because we, the students, live in so many different parts of the Cape it may sometime be hard to decide on a place for the fundraiser (s) and if all of us will be able to go to them. The part of this that I'm not completely comfortable with is the fundraising because we are going to have to think of fundraisers or do many of them to raise a lot of the money that is needed. Also, the biggest challenge of these fundraisers, again, is being able to choose a location for one and for all the group members to be there. Some of my personal goals I have set are getting a job or multiple part-time jobs, and having huge fundraisers where many people will come and we'll get a lot of money. I hope to have huge fundraisers like car-washes where many people will come and the money that we earn will cover a large portion of the money that we need.

Last week on Thursday was the Morocco Trip's first meeting. Two people from World Challenge came and talked to us more about the trip and money management. The most important, or the most focused on part of the meeting, was money management. They gave us sheets that helped us to plan how to get the money we need, which is about three thousand five hundred dollars. I think that the meeting was very helpful to us to help plan how to get the money we need. Also, it was almost like a shock or a wake-up that you are going to Morocco, it finally set in. When they were talking about money management it probably woke up a lot of people that this is real and time to start saving up. Maybe because the whole entire process started that it finally set in because when I handed in my papers and money to signe up it didn't seem completely real, but now that we're actually starting to plan, at least for money, for the trip it seems more real.