Reflections

The experiences I had during my May Project taught me a lot. Starting out at Children's hospital I learned a lot about fundraising and office work and how it is difficult and sometimes not very fun. Fundraising is a very difficult job and a lot more goes into it than you would think. I was assigned to a bunch of little itty bitty tasks which seemed mindless and useless but try actually do help. I was stuck making copies, cutting things out, stuffing envelopes and mailing invitations. Although these weren't that fun they were very important. I learned a lot about the network that St. Louis Children's Hospital helps to maintain. They have a huge range of providers who donate and it really shows how contributions and donations are a huge part of St. Louis Children's Hospital. One of the tasks I was given to do was to call people who had made a donation and thank them for their donation and tell them where the money they donated was going. It was nice to see that Children's hospital thanks everyone for their donation no matter what the amount. There were people who donated $5 and people who donate thousands of dollars but it really shows how every dollar makes a difference in some way or another. Some of the other tasks such as stuffing envelopes and mailing invites out showed me the importance of maintaining the network of donators. Children's hospital sends invites, info, and thank you notes to tons of people. It shows how important it is to keep the donators that you have and to make sure they know how much their donations are appreciated. I really did enjoy hearing about all the projects that were being planned for fundraising. The first one was a golf tournament that The St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation was hosting. There was just so much time and effort put into it but the outcome was amazing and the hospital raised lots of money. The other one was Six Flags night hosted by St. Louis Children's Hospital. Having grown up attending this event it was interesting to see how much money is raised from tickets. I was given the task of organizing the names of people who had purchased tickets and then adding up what they owed and the total amount of tickets sold. Even by early may they had already raised $300,000 just from ticket sales. You don't really think about how far this money really goes and how amazing the event is. Reflecting back on teaching cheers to the 8^th graders I’m glad I was able to have this experience as well. Although the girls could be so difficult and never listen when we tried to talk to them or explain something to them, but the end of our time with them they had learned all of the cheers almost perfectly. I’m glad I was able to contribute the Burroughs tradition of Burroughs from me (and Kay) and I am very proud of that. The tradition of cheerleading at Burroughs has been one of my favorite activities I have done at this wonderful school. I have so many great memories of pep rally’s and MICDS games and I hope these girls get the chance to enjoy this “sport” as much as I did! I hope they go on to cheer all 4 years at Burroughs and enjoy every minute of it.