Another semester...completed.
For some, the measure of success may be a high grade in a class at the end of the semester. It may even be the feeling of excitement someone gets as they approach the side of the administration building on campus and notice the new list posted for those students that made the "President's List" and "Dean's List".
For me, I've begun to understand there is more to success than high grades or being on a list that recognizes outstanding academic achievements. It's about the accomplishments I make personally and the goals that are reached for Josh Project each semester.
This semester was an extremely special semester for me and by far my most successful semester. For Josh Project there was non stop momentum and I had to just hold onto the reigns.
Building Bridges
At the beginning of the semester the goal was to reach out to the administration of the Joseph N. France General Hospital and establish a solid, long-lasting relationship. We had a meeting on September 12, 2012 that allowed myself and one of the co-chairs to introduce Josh Project to Ms. Lornette Adams (Operations Manager) and Ms. Sonia Daley (Head Matron). Unfortunately the pediatric ward nurses that had originally received donations in the past from Josh Project (Josh Kits and rocking chairs) had failed to pass the word along to the correct hospital officials. So the organizations efforts and mission failed to become known to those important officials. The meeting went well even though the officials we met with made it known that they were, in a sense, not happy with how things were handled in the past. It was definitely difficult at first with that initial impression hanging over us, but my co-chair and I continued to express our excitement and enthusiasm for the future of the hospital and our organization. Without a doubt, Ms. Adams has become a big fan of what we do since this initial meeting. She has been nothing but supportive in all that we do. I love interacting with her and keeping her posted on the visits and our fundraising efforts. **Memo to self...get picture, for a keepsake reminder, with Ms. Adams and the other staff before I leave St. Kitts**
Working with St. Kitts Government...
Our next goal was to connect with the local government of St. Kitts and propose to them that all the shipments of Josh Kits be given exemption from all custom taxes/charges. I drafted a proposal and had a wonderful member of the RUSVM administration help in making sure that the letter didn't get lost on someone's desk. After some patience and diligence, RUSVM's Josh Project was granted exemption of taxes/etc on all Josh Kit shipments! So our first shipment of 60 kits arrived and a group of members came over and helped assemble the kits (it was easier to ship them unassembled). Our first visit to the hospital to donate kits was extremely successful. There were only two children at the hospital for this visit, one was actually asleep so we left his kit by his bed for when he woke up. The other little boy got spoiled rotten with tons of attention from our group of volunteers. **Photos courtesy of RUSVM's very own Paul Orchard**
It was a blast, and every donation visit that we do really continues to inspire me and drive me to keep pushing for goals that will enable RUSVM's Josh Project to grow and do the amazing things that it does for the local children receiving care at the hospital. I love the smiles that I get to see from these kids. I love being able to give them a stuffed Josh puppy to snuggle with and to help them follow along while a Josh Project member reads the book "I'll be O.K." to the children there the day of our visits. My second favorite thing to helping the children in during a scary time like staying at the hospital, is being able to interact with the families that are visiting with their little ones. I have felt nothing but gratitude from these families and parents about what we are trying to do. It warms my heart a million times over to just see and feel the little bit of happiness and relief that we have been able to provide the children and their families.
Something that I strive to do each semester is see to it that Josh Project holds successful fundraisers that fuel our charitable abilities. We continue to receive an overwhelming amount of support from the RUSVM community!
Josh Project Coin Fundraiser
Our coin fundraiser was so much fun this semester. The way it works is that each semester class competes on who can collect the most coins (you can attempt to decrease a semester's chance of winning by adding bills of any amount to a jar). This semester's winner was Orange semester (3rd semester at the time) and their prize was to have their chosen professor, Dr. Gyimah, dress as Flavor Flav for an entire day. I really think the student body and professors that are chosen by each semester class enjoy the opportunity to help out in such a fun way.
Professor/Staff Cook Off
Our Professor/Staff Cook Off was a ton of fun and there were so many delicious dishes that were prepared for the event. I continue to be so thankful for the time, energy, and delicious dishes that our professors and staff members so graciously offer up every semester. We really try to offer an array of activities for attendees of all ages to come and have a great time. We have fun activities for little children like coloring pages, finger painting, face painting, and this past semester's cook off had ornament making for the holidays.
Warriors for the Josh Project
Our last and final fundraiser of the semester was a special fundraiser hosted by Island Yoga. Five amazing yoga instructors gathered together and donated their time to put on the Warriors for the Josh Project: A Yoga Experience to Benefit the Josh Project.
Caroline Nash (founder of Island Yoga)
Cara Diskin (taking over Island Yoga)
Karina Antonopoulos
Chris Kaup
Ryan Beverly
Working with the Government One More Time...
Josh Project sells a fleece to the student body every semester. It is a very professional looking fleece with the RUSVM logo at the upper left corner on the front of the fleece. Most of the price of the fleece pays for the fleece, the remainder fundraises for Josh Project! The problem with this fundraiser is that the first time I did it, I had the fleeces shipped to my home where I put all 80 something fleeces into the big vacuum packs to fit into my suitcases. I had five suitcases! They were a little suspicious at the St. Kitts airport during the customs check. So to avoid that scary route of bringing the fleeces to the island, I made it my mission to work with the government and explain how much the fleeces enable us to do for the children of St. Kitts that find themselves receiving care at the JNF General Hospital. Unlike the Josh Kits, this endeavor was not one that RUSVM was going to stand behind (something about the fleeces being resale???). So I was on my own. I drafted a letter and made my way to the Ministry of Finance. My biggest fear was being handed down to an assistant of someone that would be able to really help my cause. Luckily, I made friends at the office quickly! Many of them had heard me on the radio (I'll explain this exciting event further down). Most importantly they were willing to listen to me at that moment and one person in particular really pulled through for me, Ms. Morris. This woman was so kind and easy to talk to. She was instrumental in helping us achieve exemption on all customs charges for the fleeces. Also behind this big step was the awesome Ms. Adams from the JNF General Hospital who made sure to put in writing that she highly recommended the approval of my proposal because it enabled us to continue doing what we do at the hospital. What a big sigh of relief! I had taken a chance and mustered up the courage to gain the help of the local government.
Reaching Out to the Community...
With the help of our PR department at RUSVM, I was able to sit in on a radio show on the local radio station 98.9 WINNFM. The show I was a guest on is one held once a month by RUSVM called Animal Answers. Our edition focused on the human-animal bond and how Josh Project utilizes that to bring comfort to children that are at the JNF General Hospital. I had a blast interacting with Toni Frederick, the host, and having RUSVM's Dr. Lanning join me and explain how the human-animal bond benefits people. Definitely recommend checking out our videotaped radio show by clicking here :).
That's a Wrap!
So that does it for MY successful semester :) I am so very thankful for every person that helped me and Josh Project reach all these wonderful goals. And I will continue to donate my free time at RUSVM to making sure that Josh Project continues to do everything that it can do to ultimately help bring relief to the children that find themselves at the hospital. This is my definition of success...
