A HEART FOR HELPING—In addition to raising animals, such as her pet goat Spicy, 4-H Club member Alexandra Thompson created a philanthropic project to earn her Emerald Star: She got 20 other kids together to donate blankets and other supplies to homeless people. Courtesy of Alexandra Thompson
Alex, a junior at Royal High School in Simi Valley and a member of the Conejo-Simi 4-H Club, has made a personal project out of helping homeless people who show up for free meals every Monday evening at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks.
Alex, 17, who regularly helps serve meals at her church, said she wanted to get more teens involved.
“My brother Caleb and I were usually the only kids, with the occasional kid from my high school youth group every once in a while,” she said. “I realized that nowadays kids don’t really have an opportunity to interact with who they are helping because we can just donate canned goods or old clothes to shelters but never really interact with the recipients.”
With help from about 20 volunteers recruited from her 4-H Club, Alex organized two Monday meal programs at the church in August. Club members handed out care packages that provided toiletries to about 60 homeless people over the two evenings.
“ It was good getting the 4-H community to interact with the homeless community. A lot of the homeless people didn’t know about 4- H before,” Alex said.
But she wasn’t done yet.
She was watching the Disney Channel one day last August when she saw an announcement for Disney’s Summer of Service grant program, which provides $500 to youths ages 5 to 18 who do service projects in their communities.
She applied for the grant and was notified in November that she’d been selected for an award, which is provided through a partnership between Disney/ ABC Television and Washington, D.C.-based Youth Service America, or YSA.
Alex used the grant to buy 40 blankets, which she plans to distribute to homeless people at Holy Trinity’s next meal program, Mon., Jan. 8.
First, however, she’s asking for volunteers, old and young, to help assemble care packages of toiletries and other necessities.
Those willing to help out just need to show up between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sun., Jan. 7 at Holy Trinity, 1 W. Avenida de Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks.
Started around the turn of the 20th century as gardening clubs for young people, 4-H clubs these days encourage children to go into their communities and make a positive difference by volunteering.
The club’s name derives from the 4-H pledge. The first H stands for “Head to clearer thinking,” the second for “Heart to greater loyalty,” the third for “Hands for larger service” and the last for “Health to better living,” according to the organization’s website.
Since 1924, when 4-H clubs adopted the clover emblem, activities have included animal husbandry.
Today, nearly 6 million children participate in 4-H in the U.S., and as part of most programs, children learn to raise an animal.
Alex, who joined 4-H at age 5 when her family lived in Orcutt, is raising a pet goat named Spicy.
Her parents were also club members when they were children. The Thompson family moved to Simi Valley two years ago.
With her latest project this weekend, Alex hopes to earn an Emerald Star, a top award in 4-H akin to the Gold Award in Girl Scouts and the Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts.
Besides the 4-H Club, Alex belongs to Key Club at Royal High, the National Honor Society, Academic Decathlon and Hispanic Interactive Club.
She also plays on the varsity golf team at Royal.
“I am hoping to have some of my teammates at the blanket drive,” Alex said.
But she has a greater goal in mind than just providing blankets and toiletries to people in need. She wants to sow empathy for the plight of those less fortunate among young people her age, she said.
“Kids these days often don’t truly understand why homelessness is such an issue,” Alex said. “I hope to open the local youths’ eyes to it a little bit more . . . so the kids could see the physical need for giving back on a more personal level.”