DECA’s DECA Warms Hearts has warmed the hearts of everyone by working to ensure that those in need had enough to eat during the previous holiday season.
DECA member Arianna Barahona partnered with Dulles South Food Pantry to create a food drive through the month of December. Her goal was to get donations and then create meal kits with the donations. Within three weeks, she planned, promoted, and advertised her cause, gaining enough supplies to create 26 meal kits. Each meal kit contains mixed vegetables, peaches, a box of hamburger helper, and cookies. The most difficult part, in her opinion, was getting word out because of the short time frame. Despite the many challenges, Barahona successfully launched the project.
“I thought it was perfect to start a food drive in December,” said Barahona. “It’s the holiday season so it’s a great time to give back to the community and make sure people have food to eat.”
The food drive was launched as a part of Barahona’s event for the State Leadership Conference (SLC) competition. SLC is a DECA Event at the state level where participants do written events and role plays. Some written events consist of completing projects. Barahona combined her passion for helping others and her passion for business by conducting the food drive as the project for her SLC written event. Its purpose is to show her leadership skills and her ability to effectively plan, coordinate, and conduct events.
“I just love giving back to people. I grew up loving taking care of people, helping people, and I love volunteering,” Barahona said. “So, when I was figuring out what to do for my project, I thought this was the perfect route for me to start a food drive.”
DECA is also involved in other events designed to give back to the community. Currently, DECA is partnering with GotSneakers. The club has boxes located around the school building for people to place sneakers and athletic shoes they are willing to donate. Once the donation period is over, these shoes then go to underprivileged children whose families cannot afford athletic shoes. It allows the children to play sports they love like baseball or soccer, for example. GotSneakers also gives DECA a portion of their revenue so it’s a great way to generate funds for their club.
“What they’re looking for is athletic shoes,” DECA Sponsor Sharon Brown said. “They’re not looking for mom’s heels, they’re looking for sneakers and cleats.”
Giving back to the community is beneficial for everyone involved because it improves the quality of life for underprivileged individuals. The person who is participating in the event is also benefited because they are connected to the community and contributing to a good cause. Many people also report feeling more peaceful after volunteering because they know they’re contributing to a good cause. DECA members are taking initiative to help out those in need and working to better the lives of everyone in the community because they believe that every individual should at the very least have access to basic needs like food, water, shelter, and clothing.
“Helping others is really special to me,” said Barahona. “I grew up volunteering so it’s how I was raised.”
