January 2020 Issue

8
JANUARY 2020 • EDITOR JADA INGLETON
feature
Project Broward: DECA hosts Precious Dreams Dreams Drive
PRECIOUS DREAMS PACKAGING: Juniors Javier Hurst and Barbara De
Leon Marin and seniors Emily Ensel and Ella Terran package items into
bags for the Precious Dreams Foundation. This is the first year that DECA
has donated to the foundation after one of the students presented the
idea. Photo by Kiera Cerino
Kiera Cerino
Staff Writer
As blankets, stuffed animals and story
books are packaged in drawstring bags
to be sent to the Precious Dreams Foundation,
Distributive Education Clubs of
America (DECA) students work to get the
bags ready for children who are homeless
or in foster care. Over 428,000 children
are in foster care in the United States and
the Precious Dreams foundation works to
ensure that every child can feel comfortable.
From Oct. 28 to Nov. 6, DECA collected
a number of items that were on the
Precious Dreams list. As juniors Arielle
Peralte, Samantha Soskin and Janine
Downs decided to bring the event to West
Broward for a community service project
for their competition, DECA decided to
participate and collect items as donations
for the project with the juniors as event
coordinators.
“We decided to do a community service
event project and I had heard about the
organization through my temple,” Soskin
said. “The donated items go to children in
foster care that may be dealing with anxiety
and depression who need comfort.”
Over 40 percent of those homeless are
under 18 and many of those children
worry about finding and securing a place
to sleep. The Precious Dreams Foundation
works to help children find comfort in
difficult times in their lives. The Precious
Dreams Foundation provides items to give
children that could possibly help and ease
their situation.
“I hope people gain an understanding of
the hardships that children in foster care
go through and the importance of the Precious
Dreams foundation,” Peralte said.
“The event supplies children in foster care
with items that are proven to help them
deal with stress in their difficult situation.”
Students who were involved in the
packaging of the items donated were able
to sort through the donations and put
them into drawstring bags provided by
the foundation. While some packaged the
bags, other students wrote positive notes
included in the bags to help the children
feel more positive and comforted. By
participating in these activities, students
were able to understand and see firsthand
how much community service can have an
impact on those receiving the assistance.
“This has changed the way I view
community service because before I never
really thought that it was something you
could do yourself, but now I see that it
is,” said junior DECA member Innocent
Wodzisz. “It has increased my interest
in other community service events and
the best part of being involved was being
able to do something to help people with
a group of my friends. I learned the value
of community service and how a group
of people can come together and make a
difference.”
Participating in this event was a way for
students to become more involved with a
foundation they might not have been able
to work with otherwise. The students were
able to have an understanding of how
community service can change the lives
of people around them. It provided an
opportunity for students to learn about the
foundation and see how their donations
affect the people receiving the bags.
“I learned more about what goes into
community service projects. It showed me
that it’s the little things that can mean a
lot to someone,” said sophomore DECA
member Max Baumgartner. “I think the
best part about being involved in this is
knowing we took part in helping foster
children adjust to their new homes and
further appreciating what we have, since
there are many people out there who
aren’t as fortunate as us.”
As the final blanket, stuffed animal and
storybook were packed into a drawstring
bag, preparation for the bags to be sent to
the Precious Dreams Foundation began.
The event coordinators collected the
finished bags and placed the notes inside.
DECA members then transported the
bags so they could be sent to the Precious
Dreams Foundation and the foster children
could receive them.
“We hope that we are able to donate
fully packaged comfort bags to Precious
Dreams and possibly a monogram donation
from a fundraiser in the near future to
help our cause grow even more,” Downs
said.
In the aftermath of the event, students
were able to see how their community
service and considerate efforts could help
others, ultimately showing how their actions
can have a positive impact on others.
This has also allowed students to become
more involved in more community service
opportunities.
“I decided to participate because I saw
my peers doing something good and it
drove me to help their great cause. In a
sense, it has added to my awareness that
there are good things around that I can
help with,” said junior DECA member
Javier Hurst. “I think the best part of
being involved was just the environment
of everyone coming together to do something
good. I learned that it is really easy
to make a difference in anyone’s life. You
just have to get involved.”