Health & Fitness
One CAN Make a Difference
Collecting canned food not only helps hungry orphans in Haiti and DR, but empowers the next generation to step out of their comfort zones and become leaders. One can make a difference!
A thousand pounds of canned food.
That’s my goal for this year’s food drive. My name is Cassandra Hsiao, and I’m thirteen years old. For the past two years, a group of friends and I have been going around, door-to-door, asking for donations of canned food. The canned food goes to Operation DREAM, a non-profit organization that battles hunger in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Operation DREAM has been able to ship over 40,000 pounds of food to the orphanages since 2009. Their goal this year is to collect and ship 10,000 pounds of food by Christmas 2012. With the earthquake in 2010 and recent Hurricane Isaac, Haiti and the DR really need our help.
This year, we kicked off our food drive with an Operation DREAM booth at a carnival in Diamond Bar on October 13. On October 20, twenty youths ranging from age 7 to 17 undertook the mission of collecting cans in Diamond Bar. We appreciate the generosity of Diamond Bar residents. Our team plans to cover different neighborhoods in Walnut, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, San Dimas, etc. on following Saturdays. On this year’s Halloween (Wednesday, October 31), our team will Trick-or-Treat So Kids Can Eat! Instead of collecting candy, we will collect canned food. Walnut and Diamond Bar residents, be prepared because we may knock on your doors!
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Not only is our team helping children a world away, but also this experience builds up character traits such as perseverance, endurance, and patience. Our goal is to empower others to help and become leaders themselves. Students who want to earn community service credits can host their own food drive for Operation DREAM, collecting cans, beans, rice, pasta, oatmeal, and other non-perishable foods. One can truly make a difference.
Anne Frank once wrote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
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Anybody who wants to feed the hungry can contact me at cassandrahsiao@hotmail.com.
Check out Operation DREAM’s website for more information at http://www.allaboutthedream.org/
