Lesley Akin

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People must be personally affected to care.    

     Lesley volunteers and works with the organization Ronald McDonald House. She was forced to volunteer in high school, and after high school, she continued her volunteer work. Lesley mentioned that for her to get involved in an organization, she has to actually be aware of its existence. She also highlighted that many nonprofit organizations exist, however, because of exposure and marketing, they aren’t known by many people. Furthermore, Lesley said that in order for her to get involved and truly care about a cause, she has to have been affected by it herself, or have a personal connection to someone else that has been affected by it. The issue has to be close to home.

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Justin Choi

 

Interviews add credibility, and companies should be taking action.  

     When asked how active he was when it came to volunteering, and working with non-profit organizations, Justin responded by saying that he was “semi-active.” He started out working to innovate public schools, and worked with at risk youth, and later, he applied for a job with the organization. Justin stated that he values organizations that provide mental health services, because despite how important mental health is, there is a lot of stigma about it, and mental health services are hard to access. Justin also mentioned that organizations need to take philanthropy more seriously, which he thought was exemplified by facebook: Facebook has a very high salary for its employees, about $250,000, and he felt that if they had enough money to pay employees such a high salary, then they should also be able to use their funds to create more good in the world. Justin also stated that the most effective way to fundraise, in his opinion, was to organize a student body with a goal, and ask for funding. Justin also mentioned that it was important to have a collection of storing testimonies so that people see the importance of our work, and that we should also collect data in addition, to further demonstrate its importance.

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Susy*

 

Local fundraising methods may be beneficial.

     When asked whether she was involved in any volunteer work, or whether she worked with nonprofit organizations Susy stated that she did some Greek fundraising in college, and was forced to do some community service in highschool, but nothing other than that. Susy said that she fundraised through bake sales in the past, so that might be an effective way for us to fundraise.

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Nicholas, Ethan, Abe

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High-schoolers often aren't involved with service, even though they may have been personally affected.

     Nicholas is a rising high school junior. Nicholas involves himself in nonprofits or causes that affect “people [he] knows”. Nicholas has not worked for any non profits or medical causes. Ethan is a rising high school junior. Ethan does not volunteer or participate in non profits, since he believes that he is too busy to make the time. Abe is a rising high school junior. He decides which nonprofits/causes are worth his time depending on whether its “something I know about or am connected to”. Nicholas, Abe, and Ethan are aware of the risks of being burned. However, when asked what they knew about being burned, they responded “not much”. Nicholas was aware of “three degrees and stuff”. When asked if they remembered the precautions their parents took to prevent them from being burned, Abe responded that his older brother had been burned by the oven when he was a child, so his parents knew to keep him away from the kitchen. When asked if they would be interested in supporting a nonprofit geared towards prevention of burns, Nicholas responded, “Yes— that’s pretty interesting. I guess no one really talks about it”.

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Florence*

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Parents are empathetic and care about their children.

     Florence was the mother of the family. She was a burn survivor herself, and when we asked her if she knew any burn survivors, she said “I’m a burn risk pulled down her sleeve and showed us her scar. When we asked her if she was taking precautions to protect her child from being burned, she responded “No. We don’t do anything. I figure, if she gets burned, she’ll learn from it. We don’t spray her with the garden hose after its been sitting out in the sun for a couple hours, though.” When we asked whether she would be interested in a nonprofit that provides support for burn survivors, she stated “I’m interested! If it saves even one life, I’m all for it”.

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Freida

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Those involved in non-profits are more likely to care.    

     Freida appeared to be in her early twenties. She currently volunteers for a non-profit in her community called Love Your Melons, a company that sells beanies and donates half of their proceeds to pediatric cancer research. She said that she looks for causes she cares about when giver her time to volunteer. She said, “Not every day, it’s not never crossed my mind” when asked if she is aware of burn risks on a daily basis. This seemed to be a common theme in the interviews. People knew that the risk exists, but is not something that is often on their mind. We asked about potential interest in learning more about burn risks and burn survivors, and would potentially be interested in giving her time to the cause. She seemed genuinely interested as it seemed this was not something she had thought about, but realized she mabey should have. We didn’t get a picture or contact information.

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* signifies people wishing to remain anonymous

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