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SERVICE THE WRIGHT WAY
Tie One On For Success I have always had the idea to start a “tie drive” but joining Youth Leadership Mobile helped me reach out to the right people to kick off the project. “Tie One On For Success” was organized to help less fortunate students acquire appropriate clothes for interviews. The first impression is everything, so even a small article of clothing like a tie can be a deal breaker when going on an interview. In order to publicize “Tie One On for Success” I created a poster, posted it on social media and also hung it up in schools and churches. Shortly after starting the project, news and media companies 92 Zew and WKRG News had segments in their shows for the project. I was receiving over ten calls a day from people offering to donate ties. Even with the COVID-19 precautions and restrictions, the project was a success. After only two months of collecting and over hundreds of phone calls, the project concluded with over 700 ties. Thanks to God and the generosity of our Mobile community hundreds of kids will receive a chance to progress further in their ambitions than ever before. I then organized the ties into boxes and donated them to public high schools for the teachers to distribute. Of course the donations and impact on the community were the best effort that I have ever been a part of in order to change others' lives. However, the change
in my life is something that I never expected. The pure joy of receiving a phone call or donating a tie is more rewarding than anything I had ever experienced. It is crazy to see how a small action such as cleaning your closet can make such a difference to others. I am certainly going to do more projects like this one in order to help those around me and to grow personally. -Thomas Price ‘22
Pen Pal Program Dumas Wesley Community Center’s most vulnerable senior citizens connected with school-age children during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lost art of letter writing. The “Wright Way Character Education Program” launched a pen pal program in the spring connecting students to participants in Dumas Wesley’s Senior Activities for Independent Living program. Over 80 of our 5th graders were matched with seniors who were isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Fifth graders take a year-long Character Education class that helps reinforce our school’s core values,” said Michael Schultz, Director of Student Ministries and Service. “My students talked about this project a lot. They asked almost every day if they have gotten a letter back from their pen pal."
