Profile of a volunteer

 When individuals work as volunteers, they are donating their time and efforts to a cause without any promise or thought of financial gain (Kieff, 2009). I selected Geoffrey Canada because he has impacted so many lives and people look up to him as an advocate. He is a friendly and caring individual. He has the passion to give and does not expect anything in return. 

He keeps on fighting fearlessly for children and their families. He has positively impacted people’s lives by combining educational, social and medical services to help children and their families. He believes that education is the only path to success, and recognizes the importance of community involvement.

I have a passion to give children and their families’ quality education that comes with identifying the needs of the whole child and with the passion of Mr Geoffrey Canada that focuses on school-community partnership. I believe that the work is already accomplished. When kindness is in action it gives us an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Kindness is acceptance. We need to accept our call to service and use our knowledge and resources that we have to reach others.  

My take away message from the reading of this week is that advocacy can occur as a result of challenges one is going or has gone through. What I have experienced is that in volunteering we show an act of kindness to someone else. I would work to strengthen the education, social and mental health of families and helping them change their lives positively. 

Using Social Media

In reflecting on my connection to social media this week, I found out that my life already revolves around computer. Most of my daily interactions with parents and friends are always with computer either through e-mail, face-book or texting. My present and past experiences with the face-book are usually to interact with friends and locate the where about of other friends to find out what they are doing with their lives. Face-book is my source of sharing information, networking with other businesses, maintaining the relationships I have outside the United States and helps to reconnect me to lost friends in order to build more lasting relationships.

In my opinion I think that face-book, blog, and youtube are effective ways advocates can use to have successful and productive feedbacks. The social media will enable me reach out to other professionals in order to establish my audience and make them aware of the support I need for the cause I am advocating for.

I would use the social media to mobilize volunteers, contact people that have a lot of followers on their face-book pages to inform them about fundraising or newsletter to increase attendance to a conference or workshop.

If anyone has suggestions or other ways to use social media to connect to my audience, please feel free to comment.

References

Chun, K. (2010). Why Facebook matters for nonprofits. The Evaluation Exchange, 15(1), 20. Retrieved fromhttp://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/current-issue-scaling-impact/why-facebook-matters-for-nonprofits

E-Advocate. (2011). Social media advocacy: Five influential steps. Retrieved fromhttp://eadvocate.wordpress.com/social-media-advocacy-six-influential-steps/

Advocacy Message

The two advertising campaign messages that  inspire me are: http://bcove.me/fegc2shf and www.everybeatmatters.org

The Every Beat Matters site is used in raising awareness about saving children. Every year most children die before their 5^th birthday from a preventable and treatable cause. When mothers and children that are sick in a community are taken care of this will increase the health of people. In some countries pregnant women do not have access to proper medical care or obstetric intervention when they need the service as a result the child and mother die due to poverty and inequality in the society.

        Childhood obesity: I like how superhero was used for the advertisement because children like to fantasize and imagine themselves as winners and champions. They realize that if they eat their fruits and vegetables they will have the courage to overcome the robot monster.

Reference 

The Ad Council. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.adcouncil.org

MY OWN CAPACITY

The area of early childhood I am passionate about is child abuse and neglect. I would like to bring solution to the lives of families and children that have been abused physically, sexually, and emotionally. The children who are most likely abused are those living in poverty, and present stubborn, demanding, inquisitive behavioral patterns.

      I have the ability to recognize issues, situations that cause harm and prevent the optimal development of young children and their families (Kieff, 2009). Families and children from low income and disadvantaged status are always stressed out due to the condition of living they find themselves. Stress can affect the brain development of a child because a prolonged exposure to stress through abuse will impair child’s memory, emotions, and attention to regulations. Stress can be reduced if a child notices the presence of a trusted caregiver. Caregivers need to have access to available resources in order to help them take care of their immediate needs. Partnering with individuals and organizations would help prevent the abuse and neglect of children because with collaboration, families will have more resources to take care of their needs. When children undergo some levels of stress or trauma it affects the normal developmental process that a child needs to grow. Parents, caregivers and teachers have the responsibility of providing the support that children need to develop in the most delicate period of their life. This is an issue that parents need to be aware of in taking care of their children.

      My resources are the information and knowledge I have regarding stress and traumatic related family situations. Emphasis is placed on the need to reduce stress because if unchecked stress will produce negative results and the interpretation of these results constitute child abuse. I have also partnered or networked with other organizations to gain and exchange skills, and knowledge in helping others.