community service

May 3, 2011

Greensboro, AL needs our help following devasting storms

Every year members of the Ultimate Black Belt Test go to Greensboro, Alabama to work with an extraordinary group of dedicated individuals to improve the lives of those in Hale County, one of the poorest in the nation. This past week the tornadoes that devastated so much of the south, also had its effect on this community.

Damage assessment:

5 people lost their lives and 42 homes were lost along with 17 that are uninhabitable.
This is a call for action for Greensboro and Hale County, where I personally know the people on the ground cleaning up the streets and helping the families that could so easily be forgotten. For the immediate needs Hero Housing has identified 31 families that have lost their homes and they are attempting to provide them with $300 cash for immediate needs.

Pam Dorr has been working in this county with Hero Housing and doing a great job of providing affordable housing and helping the community with the very basic needs of life. I put this call out to all of our friends to help this community – where we know that the money is going directly to the people in need and it will be used properly. Their website and where donations can be made is listed below. You can also send donations of clothing and other items, they can be sent directly to Hero Housing office. As of this time neither Red Cross nor FEMA has made it to their town or area and they are in need as are many towns in the south.

Finally Pam tells me that later in the summer they will need volunteers to help with construction and in other ways, and this may be a project that we here at Balanced Life Skills may want to do together. These are good people with very little resources. Every time that I have traveled there I am moved by people and their circumstances. I hope that as a school that we can be of assistance to them.

To Learn more: http://www.herohousing.org/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hale-Empowerment-and-Revitalization-Organization-HERO/110123545679566

Address: Hero Housing 1120 main Street Greensboro, AL 36744 Phone 334-624-0842

April 22, 2011

Andrew R. leads classmates in support of troups

For my community service project my Kindergarten class and I each wrote a letter to a soldier thanking them for their service to our country. On the opposite side of the page we used small pieces of white and red construction paper and some stars to create an American flag.

My mom is going to send all of our letters to an organization called www.amillionthanks.org and from there they will be distributed to an American soldier.

I had the idea to do this after learning in school about Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day all the things that the military does for us to keep our country safe.

April 7, 2011

Stewart M. & Friends Clean Up a Stream

Stewart 1 — Stewart & friend at Terrapin Park with their haul

Stewart 3 — Some trash is heavy to carry!

We got together some friends and picked up trash. We were with Project Clean Streams. My friend Luke joined us. My mom drove us to Terrapin Park on the Eastern Shore. We worked 2 hours and picked up 8 bags of trash and a man told us the beach never looked cleaner!!

March 20, 2011

BLS students complete fundraising for St. Baldrick with head shaving

FourBald — Connor, Ethan, Eric and James keep their promise

So now they have their heads shaved and all for a good cause. They raised money to help St. Baldricks and their Cure Cancer Drive. Our 3 students and a dad raised hundreds of dollars in this effort.

Thanks to all of them for making all of us aware of the work that needs to be done. Click here to see Jimmy’s Story.

March 13, 2011

Collin brings toys for Prize Project

Collin and his brother Gavin brought in all of these toys for the Prize Project. We talked about how happy the children who needed an operation at John Hopkins are going to be to choose one of these prizes.

March 4, 2011

Community Service: Susie C. environmental clean up

When I walk along the big road near my house, I notice a lot of trash. People throw their trash on the ground and it’s wrong. I wanted to do something to help.

I made signs reminding people not to litter. The signs show pictures of animals so people will know that littering hurts animals. We put the signs up on the fence along the road where people litter the most.

I got my little brother Teddy to help me, and we loaded up our wagon with trash. We picked up the litter on the road and filled a big trash bag with all the litter. It was really gross but now the side of the road looks much better.