Life @ Kaplan: USA Kaplan Students Volunteer

Back in October, we reported that students from our three Boston schools were volunteering for local charities. Since then, lots more schools have been getting involved with volunteering and charity work all over the world. It's great to hear about so many Kaplan students volunteering, so we asked a few students and staff to share their experiences with us.

Kaplan Santa Barbara
Students at our English school in Santa Barbara recently volunteered with Dream Foundation in California. The organization works with adults who face life-threatening illnesses and helps to provides support for their families and children. Our students helped by decorating and wrapping toy parcels.

“I loved the opportunity to go to the Dream Foundation; it was amazing to know that I was making part of something so special in the lives of these people. It was also a great time with my classmates, as we worked together to make someone happy. We don`t know who will receive the gifts, but we do know that they and their families will smile and be happy with this surprise. It made me want to go back and help as much as I can.”

Nadely M, Brazil

Kaplan Irvine
“In September, we gave all of our students Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes and encouraged them to ask friends or family to donate some coins or dollars. They could collect all the way through to the Halloween party. Then they pooled their money together as classes and we sent the winning class to go see a movie at the nearby theater. Overall, we collected $509.30 for charity. It was pretty fun because every week at our assembly we went through the rankings and everybody got really involved.”

Brent, Academic Manager, Kaplan Irvine

Kaplan Leicester Square
The students and staff at our London Leicester Square English school joined forces to raise money for the charity Children in Need. We held a bake sale during lunch in which staff and some lovely students brought in a range of delicious treats like cupcakes, traditional Brazilian cheese bread, cookies, slices and home made chocolates galore! We all chipped in and almost all the food was sold. In total we raised £159.19!

Claire, Social Organiser, Kaplan London Colleges

Kaplan Boston Harvard Square
In the spirit of the holidays, Kaplan International, Harvard Square was extremely excited to announce its 2012 Holiday Food Drive to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank.

“We encouraged all classes to support a good cause and help the homeless and hungry people in the greater Boston area survive winter. It has been amazing to see how the students responded with generosity as we collected nearly 1000 pounds of non-perishable food items in only 4 days. The issues of poverty and homelessness are international, and it is encouraging to see how students from all over the world can unite to make a change.”

Irina Bashurova, Student Services Coordinator, Boston Harvard Square

If you would like to know more information about our students'  involvement with charity work, you can get in touch with us on the blog, or on our Facebook page.

Vocabulary
life threatening: a dangerous illness
non-perishable: food that doesn't go bad
poverty: having little/no money or possessions