District Quarterly Service Project: Each quarter we focus on a different theme for service projects. Our focus through January is vulnerbility.
In an article from Health Affairs- Caring for the Vulnerable, they stated the following regarding vulnerability. "Vulnerability, the susceptibility to harm, results from an interaction between the resources available to individuals and the life challenges they encounter and overcome. Vulnerability results from developmental problems, personal incapacities, disadvantaged social status, inadequacy of interpersonal networks and supports, degraded neighborhoods and environments, and the complex interactions of these factors over the life course. Vulnerability issues may arise from individual, community, or larger population challenges and requires different types of policy interventions from social and economic development of neighborhoods and communities, and educational and income policies, to individual medical interventions." Those who are suffering from the following misfortunes are considered vulnerable and could be categorized as the homeless, orphans, those who are suffering with mental illness, human trafficking, etc. Helping those who are vulnerable may include but are not limited to the following: helping schools (by enhancing their learning environment, educational resources or quality); providing a safe place to congregate or exercise; furnishing access to food/healthier foods; attending to special needs (because of illness, disability or incapacity); and tending to/supporting isolated frail, elderly people or the homeless. The following link includes a list of advocacy ideas on ending human trafficking: http://www.ipjc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CreativeIdeasToEndHumanTrafficking.pdf The link below includes a list of organizations fighting human trafficking: http://www.endslaverynow.org/act/volunteer Here are some vulnerbility service projects: 1. Adopt a child or entire family from your local angel tree. Several organizations like CASA have Amazon wish lists for ease of donation. Once an adoption is in process for a club, members who are fully virtual can participate by accessing the online wishlist. 2. Hats for the homeless: Key Club members can knit hats for the homeless and this project can be done social distanced. 3. Nursing homes: set up outdoor Christmas decorations for residents to enjoy, send cards to the nursing home residents, residents could be adopted for a more personal connection, hold a virtual bingo with your local nursing home, virtual christmas caroling, set up bird feeders near room windows at a nursing home and provide residents with bird identification cards.
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