1. Close the Loop Cup
This service project, while on the most rewarding projects I have ever participated in, was one of the most difficult projects to organize. We had a month to collect as many pieces of fabric as we could in order to keep landfills clear of fabric and textiles. Each week we also had the theme photos we were required to submit:
This was the “Game Face” photo: *Our picture won the “This Squad Rolls Deep” Award
The second week was school spirit!
The third week was “Mountain of Clothes” And finally, we had to submit pictures of our final collection:
Unlike many of the other schools, we did not have a dedicated storage unit for all of our clothes so we to store them in our house. The day that we had to turn in the clothes, it was raining. We had to move over 200 bags out onto the lawn, then into a van, then onto the ground at the drop off location, then into the drop off location. Lets just say, byt the end of it we have moved 200 bags over 5 times and my friends were not very happy. This project was so cumbersome, my husband ended up putting it in his vows as an example of all the things he has and will continue to support me in. All in all, we ended up donating 21,118 pieces of fabric to be reused, recycled and repurposed!
2. Camp Out to Stamp Out Homelessness
When my friend Kiersten came up for the weekend to celebrate her birthday, I convinced her to participate in a fundraiser I had agreed to do with my First Year Experience mentees. The fundraiser was for Family Promise of Chattanooga. It was an awareness event for homelessness in Chattanooga. As part of the event, we were required to build a house out of cardboard boxes and sleep in it through the night. We were served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches once throughout the night and breakfast in the morning. My husband, Kris, also joined us when he got off work. However, our box was definitely not big enough for three people. And, it happened to be the coldest night of the year. While a special and unique service event, my friends did not deem it worth the braving the cold and uncomfortable sleep. However, I believe the event served its purpose. We often take for granted our everyday conveniences. My friend complained about not having a phone charger, a substantial meal, music to listen to, and a mattress among other things. But these are the things that people live without on a daily basis and the point of the exercise. While it was not my friends’ cup of tea, I think this is an extremely worthwhile event for people to participate in and educate themselves about homelessness in our community.
3. Nashville Downtown Derby Bed Race
When I was Special Events Coordinator for the TJ Martell Foundation, I encouraged my friends to participate in our inaugural Downtown Derby Bed Race. The event was a fundraiser with the tagline “Put Cancer to Bed.” Teams of five were encouraged to develop a theme and race a bed up 5th Ave. We decided to go with a Mario Kart theme. We dressed as Bowser, Mario, Luigi, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, and Shy Guy. We also made our bed into a MarioKart. Unfortunately, we made just about the heaviest bed you can think of. While every other team opted for plastic or hollow steel frames, we had an old wooden bed frame. While others opted for an air mattress, we had a nice pillow top mattress. And while others thought about costumes that would also be easy to run in, we went with the classic costumes. Needless to say, my friends ended up pushing an extremely heavy bed, uphill, in full costume, in 86 degree heat. My friend Cedric was wearing a ski mask to look like Shy Guy and half way through the uphill, he was unable to breathe and had to stop. My husband Kris wore jeans under his costume, hadn’t eaten, and also does not sprint on a regular basis so he was practically dying of heat exhaustion by the end. Yet again, my well-intentioned suggestion went entirely off track. However, the event ended up raising $70,000 for cancer research, double what we expected to raise. And, we now know the keys to success next year!
While I hope you all got a good laugh from these stories, I hope these horror stories do not dissuade you from participating in your community. While these projects were difficult at times, the impact was well worth the effort and frustration. The result is always worth the struggle.