My involvement with Conscious Alliance also began with a service learning writing class at the University of Colorado. The class focused on hunger in America in addition to community involvement. During this class, I got the opportunity to work with Justin Levy, the Conscious Alliance Service-Learning Director, to raise money for Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in addition to learning about the mission of Conscious Alliance.
Throughout the semester I, along with two other students, learned a great deal about this incredible nonprofit and their efforts. The initial information that I was given about Pine Ridge had me in awe. I was completely shocked by the statistics and the state of Pine Ridge. Particularly, I was astonished to learn about the incredibly high suicide rate and about the large number of people whom live below the national poverty levels. I felt completely ignorant to what is going on right here in the United States.
The three of us examined one problem in particular at Pine Ridge. Throughout the school year, each child is provided two government-subsidized meals per day. With summer approaching, families would have to provide an extra ten meals a week per child. Due to their lack of resources, many families struggle to make ends meet, which leads to children going unfed. In order to help fight this particular issue, we decided to create a letter to send to our families and friends to inform them of the problem. We explained the conditions on Pine Ridge and that there is more strain on the food supply during the summer months when children are out of school and asked them for monetary donations in order to help. From our letters alone we earned over $500.
As I continue to work with Conscious Alliance and learn about their inspiring mission, I become more and more impressed. There are many people, Justin in particular, who give so much time and energy. I find it incredible how Conscious Alliance allows people of all ages to know they can make a difference in the world.
