Youth Volunteer Network: Real Volunteer Stories: Jeff

Get Motivated Options		Real Volunteer Stories

3 Second Quiz		The "What If" Game

Quiz		Top 10

Real Teens, Real Stories

Dressing up like a rabbit earned NOISEmaker Goldcoyote a nod from the Big Guy (the Presidential Service Award).

Inspired by Do Something, Jeff rallied his community to clean up a park and clear out drug dealers.

Cleaning up the streets to deter drug dealers

Jeff and his group wanted to get rid of the drug dealers who did business on a street beside a local park. So they decided to clean up that street, with the help of community leaders, to deter drug dealers from selling drugs in the area. Jeff: "Our community doesn't want to be overrun by people selling drugs. Plus, we thought it was horrible that drugs were being sold in what should be a drug-free zone-since it was right near a park."

Check out how Jeff and his group got rid of the drug dealers and how you can too!

• SPEAK OUT! (Part I)
• PATH TO CHANGE (Part II)
• Jeff's Tips

SPEAK OUT! (Part I)

Describe your project and the goal of the project in one or two sentences.

We wanted to clean up the street to deter drug sellers.

What issues in your community are most important to you? Explain why.

There is this one strip of a block that has townhouses on one side and a big park, where a lot of children play. In between the park and the houses, there is a wide street where cars park. There is a sidewalk on both sides, but the side closest to the park was getting old and run down. People sometimes pulled their cars up on the grass where the sidewalk was weakest, and just stayed there at all hours of the day. Soon, it became clear that the people in the cars were selling drugs. Our community doesn't want to be overrun by people selling drugs. Plus, we thought it was horrible that drugs were being sold in what should be a drug-free zone-since it was right near a park.

Besides you, who are the decision-makers in your community? Identify people who helped you take action on your issue (like elected officials, parents, community groups, etc.)

We had a lot of adult input and involvement. One of the great things about our project is that it got adults and young people in our community working together. We made sure that our project had young people and adults working together in as equal partners. It was great to have adults talk to some officials and to check in with us. It made it feel that we were really making a difference, but that it was also a community effort. Adults acted as mentors and supporters. They also helped to do tons of the work.

PATH TO CHANGE (Part II)

See It – VISION: Based on your issue, describe your vision of a better community.

Our vision for a better community is to make our community clean and safe so that its citizens will feel proud of where they live.

Believe It – STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: Why is taking action on this issue so important to you and your Do Something club?

We think it’s important to address this vision because when people feel proud of where they live they are more active and happier people.

Build It – WRITE YOUR ACTION PLAN:

Describe in detail a project idea that will help you achieve your vision.

A project idea that will help us reach this vision is to rebuild a path by our train station where crime often occurs so that we can deter crime.

Using the sample chart below, please give a step-by-step account of your community project and explain each step. Click here to view Jeff’s sample chart!

Wanna do this project with your group? Check out the following tips Jeff has passed on that you might want to know before you get started!

Jeff's Tips

How many people were involved in completing your project?

We had the neighborhood’s help and then our group too. There were a total of 30 people working on the project. It helped to have so many people working on our project. That way no one got stuck with too much work, it also was helpful because we were able to have committees—groups of people working on different subjects.

How much money did you spend for the whole project, if any?

We were able to get all of our supplies—tree saplings, mulch, gardening equipment, cleaning tools, and paint donated from a local hardware and house-ware store. The flyers we had made cost $15. The rest of the work we did was lobbying the local police precinct to patrol the area more often.

How much time did it take to do? (one week, one month, one year?)

Our project took two months to organize. First we had to pick a date. Then we had to wait to hear back about all of our requests for donations. We also had to wait for the police and community leaders to get back to us. Once that was done the project went smoothly and quickly. The actual fixing up of the park area only took a day.

How much time did it take to do? (one week, one month, one year?)

For which age group would you recommend this project (middle school, high school, all ages)?

People of all ages can help out with this project. We had kindergarteners come and help us plant trees. Some of the older adults in our neighborhood brought goodies and made sure that people got food and weren’t in the sun too long. It was a real community effort.

Did you involve any community members such as elected officials or community orgs in your project?

We had lots of community members and officials involved. The park service gave us permission to clean up and provided some supplies. The police pledged to patrol the area more often, and we got a local aldersman to attend the actual cleanup. A big part of our project was also getting the neighborhood near the park working with us too. So that meant that we had to check in with the neighborhood association, working with them to make the clean-up happen.

What did you learn from your project? What would you do differently?

Well it was great to know that we could see that something wasn’t working in our community and that we could change it! We didn’t have to wait for anyone else to do it, we could be active ourselves in mobilizing people. It was really important to learn how to get in touch with city officials and how to talk and work with the police. It was also cool to learn how to get people to work together. This project was great because we learned three really big things: how to get people involved, how to get city officials to help, and how to actually do landscaping!

What positive impact did your project have on your community?

After we cleaned up our street, the drug dealers disappeared. They couldn’t use that area of the street because the police were patrolling and there were bushes and trees planted, not to mention the extra light and the mobilized community watch. Not only did we save our community from being drug infested, but we fixed up the park to be something that we could all be proud of. Now, our community is much closer. We know each other because we’ve worked together. Doing the project also helped to revive the community association, so that has also gotten us excited. We’re planning another project to get more streetlights and repair cracked sidewalks in the neighborhood.

Check out these links:

Dressing up like a rabbit earned NOISEmaker Goldcoyote a nod from the Big Guy (the Presidential Service Award).

NOISEmaker GoldCoyote also made NOISE in the Freedom of Speech Face Off.

Wanna make helping kids a career? Check out these Top 10 Cool Careers for Helping Kids.

"Cleaning up the streets to deter drug dealers"
reprinted with permission from DoSomething.org