For my capstone project, I decided to make a crochet club for elementary school. I started this idea because I wanted to give back to my community. Being a black person in America while also attending public school I wanted to give back to other black students in public schooling. I know not a lot of public schools don’t offer extracurriculars or many clubs for the kids to join and I got lucky with a school that was big in clubs and things for students to join. It was a very important part of my education and how my development as a person. My goal with this club was to teach the students a skill they can use throughout their lives while also creating a safe environment for them to express themselves and hold open communication with me and my volunteers. I held my capstone project at Martha Washington and I had two volunteers along with my mentor and me. We taught eleven students how to crochet. The club lasted for seven weeks once a week on Tuesdays from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. I taught the students how to crochet a hat and gave them a crochet starter kit to continue crocheting once the program was over. The proudest thing I achieved from this club was being able to know that the students enjoyed the club and would do it again. It made an impact on their lives they hopefully remember.

My capstone is about donating to kids in poverty/in need. During my research, I learned about the crisis of poverty in Philadelphia and made a decision to focus on this topic for my project. First, I reached out to many different organizations before choosing Cradles to Crayons, which is a non profit organization that has been around since 2002 and it still running strong. They serve kids birth to age 12 and their families. It was the best fit for my project. They were also well organized and responsive, providing information about items they needed and how to drop them off. Once I selected the organization, I sent out emails to my neighbors, friends and family about donating items. I asked people to drop off their donations at my house, where I had set out a big box. I kept it out for about two weeks. I collected about 50 of each item. I also had to arrange with the manager of Cradles to Crayons to drop off the items at the site, where they had a huge bin outside for all the donations.

I learned a lot from this process and project. I learned that it takes time and effort to finish and accomplish something that others will benefit from, but it is worth doing it. It was clear that the community wanted to help out and that made me feel that I am part of a community were people actually care about what is going on in our city.

Link to bibliography below

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lJa3Q07sqE8w0kxC5EBLfXZGyf5w39jHmbq26x-SdG4/edit?usp=sharing