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On Friday, April 5, the student leaders of McAuliffe International completed a whole day of service as the culminating activity of Spark Change, a new program of Young Americans Center for Financial Education teaching philanthropy through service learning. This outstanding group of 6th-8th graders has worked together since the fall researching local nonprofits and leading their school in collecting change to donate to these nonprofits. The 50 student leaders who participated in the day of service made a big impact on their community.
First thing in the morning, the students split up. Half of the students went to Animal Assisted Therapy Program where they learned more about the organization and created cat trees.
McAuliffe Student Leaders donate their time to fill a truck with puppy crates for Colorado Puppy Rescue.
The other half went visited Colorado Puppy Rescue to help the staff prepare for an upcoming adoption day. Students emptied crates, sorted newspapers to get rid of all the ads that are too slick to absorb, and addressed thank you letters for those who have adopted and fostered the puppies. Then, students power washed all the crates at a nearby carwash. Quarter by quarter, crate by crate, the students worked together to clean any dry all of the crates. Once back at the Colorado Puppy Rescue, the McAuliffe students set up the crates so they were ready for the adoption day, and they put together doggy adoption goody bags. After all their work, the students thoroughly enjoyed their well-deserved puppy time!
A McAuliffe student removes graffiti from a Denver-area alley.
In the afternoon, all of the McAuliffe student leaders met up at Swansea Rec Center to begin an Extreme Community Makeover. The students hit the streets, removing trash and furniture, pulling weeds, and eliminating graffiti from nearby alleyways. The community was very grateful for the students’ hard work. Many came out of their homes offering water and saying thank you. Drivers stopped to say how much they appreciated the help cleaning up their neighborhood. Despite the hard work and the heat, students were all smiles because they knew they were doing something great for their community.
Sometimes the simplest of things like cleaning up trash can make all the difference. As the weather warms up, we encourage you to get outside and spark a change, too!
