1. Service Project By Lupe Chavarria

2. Freshman Year: Vegetable Farm Freshman year, I attended Salesian High School in Richmond, California. The school believed that our service would be more effective in groups, rather than individually so they divided us into small "faith communities". Our communities were made up of a variety of student from different grade levels. Within the group, we would come up with ideas and ways to help and service our community. My group, the Makati Family decided that we would best benefit society my providing fresh fruit and vegetables in our local grocery markets. The service consisted of planting vegetables, picking fruit, and feeding the animals. Through this experience, I learned the difference of working as a team can make. Also, the difficulties of planting vegetables and feeding bunnies.

3. Sophomore Year: Kennedy Grove Park In my second year, the Makati Family chose to work at a park. The park ranger, Nancy explained to us how admirable it was that our school would volunteer in such large numbers to help a cause. She assigned us each a job to begin with and from there, we would rotate each day. My first position was painting the edge of the side walk red for "no parking" signs. After, I was on litter duty, separating the garbage from recycling, and setting ribbons on the trails. Volunteering at Kennedy Grove was a really fun experience. The park rangers that would lead us down the trail would tell us fun facts about the history of Kennedy Grove Park. Working at the park enlightened me on all the hard work needed to maintain the environment.. By volunteering at the local park, I contributed to my community by providing a Clean environment that the neighborhood children could enjoy.

4. Junior & Senior Year: Saint Helen Parish  In my junior year, I transferred to Bishop Conaty of Loretto High School. For my service project, I chose to go closer to my faith and volunteer at a Catechism class at the Saint Helen Parish. There, I helped prepare young children in receiving their first communion. The program was started to help young kids, who do not have the financial means to attend a catholic school, learn about the catholic religion and fulfill the sacraments. Working with young children was greatly inspiring and rewarding. The children were eager to learn and discover new things. The excitement was visible as they prepared to receive the Eucharist for the first time. Working with younger children was an inspiring experience. I developed skills such as working with kids, as well as their parents. I was in charge of filing documents, distributing books, cleaning the desks, and planing learning activities for the children.

5. Over the years: Soup Kitchen Volunteering at the Berkeley Soup Kitchen is something that I did for years before moving to South California. Working at the soup kitchen was my overall favorite type of service. By volunteering, I helped contribute to my community by feeding the hungry. Because eating is essential for all human beings, I found it imperative to help the hungry.