Between June 22nd and June 25th, Riverside County AYLUS decided to adopt several active service members and troops for the upcoming Independence holiday. Having volunteered during a similar event before, it seemed like a meaningful cause to give back to the community and those who serve our country.
Several RCA members met in-person to create care packages for our active service members.
July 4th marks a national holiday in the United States and is the celebration of the freeing of the 13 American colonies from Britain in 1776. The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in American History and marks the foundation of our freedom that many so cherish within this country.
In order to thank our troops and servicemen and women for their service and sacrifice, RCA members met in person to work tirelessly on this project and also donate to this cause. To complete this task, a wishlist of several active service members and troops was obtained. Boxes were then gathered from different post offices and then decorated, front and back by the team. Then cards and letters were written and drawn. Finally, a post on social media gathered local attention and the group received donations from the community. Several trips were then made to collect the donations and the items were bought during several different trips to various stores.
The boxes were then assembled, the goods were categorized, organized, and then added to each box based on the wishlist. Each box was labeled with the receiving person/troop.
Finally, two team members dropped the boxes off at the designated location.
Being away from family and friends especially during such an important holiday is hard. Several of our own members know this too well as they have service members within their families too. One donor mentioned how these packages make such a difference in the life of those who receive as she works professionally with active and retired servicemen and their spouses. This particular feedback as well as the feedback the group has received from several other people from within the community has shown how supportive the locals are of RCAs volunteer work.
Volunteers:
June 22nd: Chandler Berry (1.5 hr), Sophie Chung (1.5 hr)
Working on boxes, organizing donations through social media post
June 23rd: Alexander Nguyen (2.5 hrs), Matthew Nguyen (2.5 hrs), Sophie Chung (2.5 hrs), Chandler Berry (2.5 hrs), Paola Humbert (2 hrs), Jacob Navarro (1.5 hrs), Nicholas Navarro (1.5 hrs), Kayla Paulsen (1.5 hrs), Alyssa Paulsen (1.5 hrs).
Working on boxes, letters, and cards, collecting donations, purchasing items
June 24th: Kayla Paulsen (1.5 hrs), Alyssa Paulsen (1.5 hrs), Sophie Chung (1.5 hrs)
Assembling boxes, writing a few more letters, gathering donations and purchasing items at various more stores
June 25th:
Sophie Chung 6.5 hrs
Collecting more donations, organizing, sorting, assembling, labeling and checking off the wishlist, finalizing and dropping off the boxes at final donation center.
Paola Humbert 1.5 hrs
Finalizing the boxes and dropping them off at the final donation center.
