Jordan

“Engage in life organization”

          Having a sick child in the hospital can not only put a burden on the family financially but it can also be hard emotionally.  Many children each year are diagnosed with cancer that can leave them hospitalized for a long period of time or making constant trips to the hospital over time. Having a sick child families are stressed to the limits with medical bills, regular financial bills and the health of their child.

Engage in life is an organization focused on optimizing the care of their patients and creating resources for the patient and their families.  This organization purposed the idea of providing the treatment, education, therapy and research that will inspire and give hope to cancer survivors and children still battling cancer. Engage in life is also building a new cancer wing on their hospital on Harmony. Through engage in life we can not only collect money donations and give out gift baskets to these sick children we can also bring smiles to their faces and give them and their families hope for a better future threw this amazing organization.

My partner, Sarah and I are doing our Civil Action Project on rising the awareness of drinking and driving. Drinking and driving causes approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States. These deaths are unnecessary and could have been prevented with the proper education and planning, like designating a sober driver. We want to get the message out about how dangerous drinking and driving can be not only to the drinker but also to others around them. First off we plan on making a petition and asking students and staff around our school (Rocky Mountain High School) to pledge to not drink and drive. Secondly we plan on making our project more well-known and asking companies around Fort Collins to sponsor our cause. Beginnings 30 years ago, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), has evolved into one of the most widely supported and well-liked non-profit organizations in America, we plan on talking MADD to help get our project known with the adult population and help think of ideas that can help make an impact on our community. Luckily they spread the world to help get all 50 states and the District of Columbia to have a zero tolerance law, but not everyone fallows this law. We hope to effectively raise the awareness of drinking and driving within our community. We also hope to spread our message worldwide. Drinking and driving is a subject no one should take lightly. On average, someone in the United States is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. We hope to get those minutes to rise. Drinking and driving is illegal for a reason and there are consequences that we want people to be aware of. We hope to effectively raise the awareness of drinking and driving with in our community.

References

^a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Motor Vehicle Safety: Impaired Driving.” Accessed: August 3, 2009.

^b National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts: 2007 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment—Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities.” Accessed: August 10, 2009.

^cNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts: Alcohol-Impaired Driving.” Accessed: August 12, 2009.

^dStrayer, David L., Frank A. Drews, and Dennis J. Crouch. “A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver.” Accessed: August 12, 2009.

^eVan Tuyl, Christine. 2006. Drunk Driving. Chicago, IL: Greenhaven Press.

CAP Project

My partner, Rio and I, are going to raise awareness on the dangers of drinking and driving for our Civil Actions Project. We hope to help teens and members around our community to think about the serious consequences of driving drunk or even entering a car where the driver is under the influence of alcohol. Drunk driving is illegal for a reason and there are consequences. The first offense is named one of these three terms: driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating [a motor vehicle] while intoxicated/impaired (OWI). You are taken to the police station until someone can come and pick you up. Your vehicle is also often impounded on your first offense, and you can be taken to court and have your license can be temporarily suspended, drinking and driving is not worth all the losses. Drinking and driving also causes many accidents and deaths each year. In 2009, 38 percent of all total traffic fatalities for the year were caused from drunk driving. In Colorado alone, 175 out of the 465 fatalities were from drunk driving. These deaths are unnecessary and could have been prevented with proper education and planning like designating and sober driver. To raise the awareness, we plan to send a petition around our school (Rocky Mountain High School) to ask teens to pledge to not drink and drive. Secondly, we plan to expand our efforts and make our project better known by asking companies around Fort Collins to sponsor our cause to end drunk driving. We also plan on finding local groups with in our community that are against drinking and driving such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) that is a non-profit organization so that we can discuss the issue with and also maybe have them speak to certain classes or groups of teens around our school. Luckily, all 50 states and the District of Columbia currently have a “zero tolerance” law, but not everyone follows this. We hope to effectively raise the awareness of drinking and driving with in our community.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/08/28_drunk-driving.html

a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Motor Vehicle Safety: Impaired Driving.” Accessed: August 3, 2009.

b National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts: 2007 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment—Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities.” Accessed: August 10, 2009.

c National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts: Alcohol-Impaired Driving.” Accessed: August 12, 2009.

d Strayer, David L., Frank A. Drews, and Dennis J. Crouch. “A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver.” Accessed: August 12, 2009.

e Van Tuyl, Christine. 2006. Drunk Driving. Chicago, IL: Greenhaven Press.

Trey

2/13/12

 Colorado is known for its beautiful mountainsides, lakes, rivers, and natural areas. At Dixon reservoir, littering has taken its toll. Not only is the environment affected by this but also the condition of the water and what lives within. The problem about this is people don’t realize what leaving your trash at a place like this can do. People fish, hike, and mountain bike here and cleaning Dixon reservoir would help the environment, and help change people’s minds about how they treat the area around them.

 Why should anyone care about this? If people don’t take care of what we have, we won’t have it any longer. The condition of where we live and the places we go really exemplifies who we are as a city. No one wants to do their hobbies somewhere that isn’t taken care of and is slowly going downhill. We should care about this problem to keep the air and environment all around clean and healthy to be in. If we don’t prevent this problem, not only the location its self is in jeopardy but inhabitants of the area are in serious danger.

 There are a variety of possible solutions to the fix this problem. First of all, groups could be created to supervise and make Pineridge natural area a better place. These groups could, go out once a week and pick up trash and help raise awareness of what littering can do to the environment. Also, a live bait policy could be enforced, keeping only lures and fly fishing equipment legal to use in the reservoir. Doing this would keep the water clean and the fish in healthy condition. Finally, using the help of the Larimer county sheriff’s department, we could use their community service workers to pick up trash around the lake.

 Homelessness is a problem in America that will not go away by treating the problems but instead needs to be solved by preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place. It is estimated that there are over 630,000 homeless people in the U.S. which is about 21 people per 10,000 in the general population. There are also around 67,000 homeless veterans which are about 31 people per 10,000 veterans. There was a decrease of about 1% nationwide in homelessness, but an increase of over 20% in 11 states and an increase in 24 total states. (From, http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/4361)

People should care about this because it shows that homelessness is a national problem and needs to be addressed through other means than just feeding and providing temporary shelters for the homeless.

One solution that would help is to implement a transition for veterans of the military to prepare them for ways to provide for themselves after they leave the military. Another solution is to provide homeless people an education and place to live and eat for free until they are able to find a job and take care of themselves. There also needs to be better policy for people in danger of becoming homeless. There was an increase in the number of people living “doubled up”, or with other people who are not just in their direct family, in one house. If someone is in danger of becoming homeless then there should be an emergency fund that they should receive a part of it, but only I they are working to get out of the situation, and if they work to pay the money back.

Hailey

The problem is. Is that there are too many families all across the nation that are unable to afford proper insurances and affordable medical treatment. This is difficult for children and families everywhere, not just physically but mentally. Every child should have the luxury of living a healthy life and unfortunately there are too many kids that suffer from cancer, chronic diseases’, pneumonia and many other illnesses. It’s natural for parents to want to give their child all they can but with the economy it can be an extremely difficult thing to provide for a child’s health care. No child should have to worry about the price of their health. Being hospitalized limits children’s freedoms and their chance to enjoy being young.

The program Engage in Life is an organization that helps families find more available resources and affordable options. Even though their main focus is children with cancers, they do reach out to kids with any kind of life threatening disease. They strive to make families feel in a more comfortable environment and at ease. Engage in Life has a goal. They want to build another wing connecting to Poudre Valley Hospital in order to maximize their client’s resources.

 In order to attack any problem, you have to address it; and the first step in doing so is to raise awareness on how imperative it is to ensure these children that they can live a normal healthy life. People need to be aware that there is hope and that there are more available resources for families who are struggling. We propose to help these families by creating the kids gift baskets in hope to make their day a little bit better. We will put toys, coloring pencils and books and treats within the baskets with the help of the Wal-mart distribution center. We won’t be able to help every family but we can make an impact on the ones we reach out to.

My CAP project is dealing with the problem of, high school students having to pay admissions in order to get into their schools sports. The problem is that at high schools, all of the students are required to pay a $5 fee, in order to watch their friends and classmates play. All people involved in high school athletics should be concerned with this because, it helps with school spirit and it also keeps the students out of trouble, and puts them in a safe environment. If one of the issues is the school will not be making any money from the program, then perhaps the school could have a punch card of some sort, where if a student goes to four games, and pays full price, then the fifth game would be free. Maybe the school could just charge a few less dollars for students, so then they would feel like they are getting a better deal than the parents and other spectators. People should be concerned with this problem because, they are charging the student body to go and watch their classmates and friends play, if they didn’t charge there would be more people to come and watch and have more people who care about the schools athletics. The student athletes should care as well because it would create a much better playing atmosphere, with more fans that would attend the games. A suggestion to this problem is that the school could just cut their losses, because they shouldn’t have to be making money off of the students. Another suggestion is that the school could give some sort of credit for games, or maybe even extra credit towards, the physical education classes. In the end making admission to games cheaper and or free or giving students credit would create a better playing environment, and keep students out of trouble. 

In 2009, there were 33,808 traffic fatalities. At least 75% of these deaths were caused by distracted driving. The number one distraction in vehicles is cellular phones. These fatalities are not confined to those who use their cellular devices while driving; many of them were safe drivers who were killed by someone who made a poor decision to not be completely engaged in the task of driving. This could happen to anyone, drivers young and old as well as pedestrians and cyclists on the road.

Driveaware asks drivers to pledge not to use their cell phones while driving. This however, is not enough to cause any significant drop in vehicular fatalities. Using cellular devices while driving should be punishable by law, not only in texting and young driver situations but for all people operating any form of vehicle. Preventing the death of a loved one is more than worth giving up this freedom because while you may never cause an accident, only one other person making one single decision could mean the difference between life and death.

Hannah

Illnesses of children are extremely straining on the families, not only physically but emotionally as well. Every day, thousands of children of all ages suffer from life threatening illnesses such as cancer, meningitis, pneumonia and other series diseases. Parents only want the best for their children, and medical bills to treat them are extremely costly. Children suffering with chronic diseases only wish to be “normal”, playing with kids their own age and having fun. Being hospitalized limits their freedom to be a kid and destroys the luxuries of being young.  

 The foundation Engage in Life is an organization that strives to optimize care for these kids so that resources are available to more patients and their families. Although Engage in Life mostly focuses on cancer of every type, they also reach out to those with other severe and life threatening illnesses. Engage in life is not the average care center for patients, they go above and beyond to try and make the patients and their families comfortable. The goal of engage in life is to build a wing connected to the Poudre Valley Cancer Center to provide support and maximize patient’s and survivors resources.

 Getting people aware is the first step in helping these struggling families. We propose to help families with children in the hospital by giving the kids gift baskets, in hopes of brightening the days of these kids. We are going to get items for the gift baskets from the Wal-mart distribution center. Within these gift baskets will be items such as colored pencils, toys, and treats. Although we will not be able to help every child suffering from a chronic illness, at least we will impact the lives of the ones we can reach out to.