A big push of what motivated me to advocate for very young children is working in the field. There are to many times where children get pushed aside. People do not think that they matter at that age. It irritated me when people say Head Start is not a good program. I then thought nothing would change if I did not stand up for what I believe in.
Many of you on my last blog as what kind of fundraisers would I do or have I done. I have not done a fundraiser for early childhood yet. One of the biggest fundraisers I helped put on was a dinner. We raised $4000 for a man who lost his house in a fire and then 10 days later lost his leg in a freak accident. The big thing about this fundraiser was we had a lot of community support. His local church got involved, we had many donations of food, we also had many business donate items for a silent auction. We offered free delivery of the dinners which we were able to delivery to hospital staff. The paper and radio stations advertise the event. None of this would have happen unless you went out and asked.
Another thing I have done was did a food drive for one of my families. I had teachers bring me food and donate money. I then went to a local dollar store and I was talking to the cashier about what I am doing. I was just making small talk with her as a check out. The next thing I knew is she cancelled my ordered went in her purse and gave me money. She said you are not done shopping yet go back and get more food. The main lesson for this is don't be afraid to ask or even just talk to people about it. They will normally do something for you.
You need to acknowledge those efforts at both levels. The governor not even the mayor had no idea about the family that could not put food on the table. Same with the man that was in a accident they didn't know about it. Though with all the efforts we did the officials of his city ended up showing up and buying dinner.
All that it takes to be a community leader on early childhood issues is the passion. You have to have a heart and know how to touch others people so they can help out too. Both of these events above had a story. Don't be afraid to tell people the stories. It will touch their heart and they will help you.
The resources that it takes to be a state leader is also the passion. You also need your community support. Once you have community support they can help you be a state leader.
The tactics that I use is getting into their heart. People are not as cold heart-ed as many people think they are. If you touch them they will help you. They will also spread the word. For the dinner we had we had many people who were not even from the community come to dinner. They saw it on Facebook they heard from friends, they heard on the radio and felt it was the right thing to do.
The advice I would give is never give up.
I agree, never to give up because you can change someone life. I enjoyed reading your blog. The man you've helped you was blessed to have you and others support him during his difficult time. I always wanted to do a food drive for families. This year before school begins, I am hoping to have a Back to School event for young children and families.
ReplyDeleteCheryl,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It is so important to have passion and know how to use it to achieve great things. I love the fact that you say that you had to do something about it and stand up for what you believe in, without us taking action in this field things will never change.
What motived me to work with children is that I started working with them. I also worked at Head Start. I know that Head Start is a great program. I also believe that passion is very important when working and advocating for young children and their families
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