This time that we’re in has demonstrated more than ever that there are always opportunities to make a positive change, regardless of the circumstances that we’re in. When our circumstances stop us from achieving our goals, we have to do one of two things; do nothing and stay the same or adapt and move forward. If we want a real impact in our community, then we must choose the latter. Responding to our current situation allows us to actually see the opportunities that are in front of us and act in a way that is relevant to how we are living now. This is a realization that I have had that has sparked a new motivation in me and has changed the way that I see CAS. Even though the circumstances with COVID have prevented me from continuing my project with Abriendo Mentes, learning to adapt has taught me that I can use my new situation to create a new CAS project to help out my community: Comida Para Compartir.
In order to help out my community in the most meaningful way possible, I needed to make sure that I understood the objectives that I was trying to achieve. Making sure that my motivations were in the right place was important to me because I wanted to ensure that I recognized what my community needs and the best ways that I can become involved in helping them. This led to the creation and development of the project, a garden in which I can provide fresh fruits and vegetables to anyone who is passing by. Understanding the needs of my community helped me to recognize that many families around me who have been affected economically by this pandemic would be in need of this produce, and it would help them to live a healthy lifestyle. In addition, I know that not everyone has access to transportation and I wanted to provide a local option to get produce since it can be difficult to find certain things.
The next step of my project was to transform it from an idea into actions and tangible results. Another aspect of adapting to your circumstances that I became aware of was taking advantage of the unique capabilities of the people in my community. This is an important aspect of collaboration, something that I knew I would need in order to make my project successful. This led me to collaborate with a local gardener in my community who had lots of knowledge of how to maintain a garden, which I could use to make my project reach its full potential. Collaborating with people in my community also motivated me to understand their needs and identify the best ways to implement my project.
Overall, this project demonstrates that I am able to differentiate myself from others by adapting to my circumstances in order to give back to the community. I’ve used innovation to come up with creative ideas, open-mindedness to understand the needs of my community, and collaboration to use mine and other people’s skills to our full potential. Although this project is still in progress and has a long way to go, it definitely has the potential to do a lot of good for people in need. These types of actions are important not only because they create positive changes for the community, but because they also encourage others to do the same.
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