As our project continued, our group decided that our message and values could be more spread out if we collaborated with other outside organizations and clubs within our school. To increase our effectiveness and impact and peer education, we decided that we should reach out to other clubs and local organizations!
We thought that a great place to start would be with our school's chapter, UCVTS HOSA! After making a list filled with potential future events our group could host, and a few meetings with the advisors and co-presidents of UCVTS HOSA, we picked the following events to pursue:
The first event we held with UCVTS HOSA was called "Be Kind to Your Mind"! We drew an outline of a brain on a poster board and set up a table holding the outline during our General Meeting. After the meeting was over, we had them write their names on the outside of the brain, and write a positive affirmation on the inside. We got over 200 people to sign it, including students, and teachers.
We decided to reach out to a local project that brings hope to the hospital and hospice community, called The Wishing Crane Project! With a more localized organization, we believed that it could more directly support and help spread out our group's impact in our community!
The first event we held with The Wishing Crane Project was called "Crane Wishes"! We had some teachers give out cranes to their students as well, to reach out to this community event even further! After a kind message was written on the wings of the cranes, we donated them to hospice patients, as that is the main aspect of The Wishing Crane Project!
We decided to reach out to a classmate of ours, Joyce Fitz, who runs this organization due to growing up with Shwachman Diamond Syndrome, a very rare syndrome. In her organization, cure.sds, she shares tons of information about her and her rare disease. She tells about her life stories of growing up with it!
We made a collaborated Instagram post that talked about raising awareness for various aspects of rare diseases. This includes the importance of sharing advocacy resources, and spreading the hashtag: #RareDiseaseDay
We made a collaborated Instagram post that went over how living with a rare disease impacted Joyce's, as well as many others, mental health! We went over what her syndrome is and provided tips on what you could do to help!
