8/17/21, from 8:15-9:15, the current AYLUS board of Vice Presidents and Presidents, Dustin He, Kevin Wang, Christina Jin, Andrea Yu, and Rachel Zhu, had a leadership meeting to discuss volunteering objectives for the upcoming months. One of the main topics of discussion was the goal of shifting away from what we consider as less legitimate hours. For example, the board holds a belief that volunteers should not be awarded hours for simply showing up to a seminar or dropping off donations. Though both of these actions do aid in bettering our community, we believe that hours should be earned through actual labor and productive activities. The team is not trying to completely eliminate donation drives, but we just feel like they should be less prevalent. With this in mind, here are some ideas that were discussed:
1. Trash pick-up at local parks or downtown at the Columbus Commons
2. Using the Chinese School platform for certain volunteering objectives:
Teacher Assistance
Hosting Seminars or pop-ups about getting into volunteering; could also serve as a means to AYLUS recruitment
3. Possible opportunities at local elementary and middle schools:
Tutoring
Starting after-school initiatives to teach STEM
4. Book Donations/Little Free Library; Though still a donation drive, we could have a group of volunteers build mini-libraries to put up known as “Little Free Libraries”.
It was really productive discussion for some really cool projects. The team has started the process of reaching out to organizations and schools to make our plans come to fruition. Dustin has a contact with the Columbus Commons that could help trash pick-up efforts. Christina is contacting people that could help with book donation and tutoring at middle and elementary schools. Andrea is meeting with a member of Opportunity X, another volunteering organization that we could partner with for STEM education in middle schools. Both Andrea and Rachel will be talking to their parents about the possibility of volunteering through Chinese School.
The team put a lot of thought into these initiatives, and they all have both a degree of community impact as well as feasibility for all members of AYLUS. Additionally, some ongoing projects that will continue within the next couple of months include Senior Star and placemat creation.
Reported by Dustin He
