I came across AMOR at the beginning of this year (spring semester) while searching frantically to find an organization in need of a volunteer so I could start a required project for my high school leadership class. I knew that in order to get my grade I needed to create a project that helped others, while showing my own leadership skills. While many options were available such as Children’s Hospital, Poverello House, and Habitat for Humanity etc., it was the local non-profit organization of AMOR that really stood out to me.

While I had previously taken the elective of the Modern Middle East my freshman year, I already had an interest in learning about how to help others worldwide. That, combined with my appeal to the health and medical field, led me to feel inspired by what AMOR does locally and worldwide. AMOR empowers women and children, and promotes education and health and diversity.

The people at AMOR are just as passionate and caring as the work they do. They kindly made time to meet with me to hear about my project requirements and see how together we could help each other, myself helping their organization while they help me complete my project. We created the #AMORForUs, a social media awareness campaign, asking people to write about what loves means to them and post it on their social media account with the hashtag #AMORForUs.

Yet this became much more than just a graded project to me. With the help from the student services at Fresno City College and Fresno State University, we were able to set up a booth at both campuses and bring this project to the local students. We asked each person “What does love mean to you?” and asked them to write their answer on a dry erase board for us to photograph. I was also able to bring this project to my family, friends, and to my leadership class. The results were far better than I would have imagined, people sincerely wrote answers on what love is to them. Each answer was something personal to the individual who wrote it and showed how diverse love really is.

 

This project had a big impact on me and felt like more of a movement than just a high school project. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to volunteer for an organization so devoted to helping others in large ways. Thank you to my teacher at Glacier High for helping me keep on track with my project, along with my classmates who participated; to the student services at Fresno City College and Fresno State University, especially the students who volunteered to help with the project, as well as my friends and family who also took part in the project. And special thanks to the people at AMOR for making this important project possible. You can still participate in this project with our hashtag #AMORForUs, leave a comment below, and check out the pictures on AMOR’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. What does love mean to you???

Hannah Pool is a sophomore at Glacier High School in Fresno, CA. Through her leadership class she has been involved in various volunteer projects, including assisting at the Community Food Bank, and creating the #AMORFoRUs social media campaign project with AMOR. She also spends 70 hours of her month devoted to a volunteer ministry work for the public. Hannah loves helping others and spreading awareness on healthy living, studying subjects on health and social sciences, as well as writing and working with her community.