Festivities

With the holiday season fast approaching, this week I was tasked with wrapping donation/handout boxes in a festive manner. In a tragic, though not unexpected, turn of events, I am rather inefficient at wrapping objects in general. Though I was not the best man for the job, the importance of the job still stands.

When dealing with abused and in need people, the psychological impact of a small bit of festive cheer may not ultimately make the difference, but it certainly contributes to their well-being.

Aside from that, I set up condom packs with informational safe sex fliers. In this blog, I have previously mentioned the importance of encouraging safe sex: to prevent the spread of disease.

Due to the hectic nature of my schedule (missing a week of productivity thanks to the allergy did not help) no progress has been made on the HPV project. Hopefully, more accurate compiling can be brought about by next week.

Allergic Communications

This week I was unable to volunteer due to general difficulties revolving around my severely weakened physical state that resulted from an allergic reaction to the antibiotics that I took for Strep Throat (a pleasant turn of events).

I spent some time looking for free online chat services, and have so far discovered that there is apparently a great need for the singles of the world to chat with each other. There are a great many questionable locations on the internet that provide chatting for individuals seeking significant others. More on this to come...

Over much discussion, Jenny and I have decided that the topic of our project will be human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV has caused much controversy in recent years, and we feel that it is a legitimate cause for concern. Though HIV is a primary issue tackled by the Montrose Counseling Center, we feel that due to the wealth of information currently available at the Center on HIV, whatever work we accomplish on it will not be able to significantly contribute.

HATCHraising

A fundraising brunch was held this Saturday for HATCH (a non-profit organization with a goal to "meet the needs sexual minority adolescents from the ages of 13 and 20"). HATCH, in addition to providing a safe and positive social environment for GLBTQ teens to cope with the difficulties of life and the negative aspects of society, helps GLBTQ teens by directing them to educational and medical help when necessary and even going so far as to offer scholarships for pupils in need and helping them with other available scholarships such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Gates Millennium Scholarships.

In order to support this myriad of activities, HATCH requires the grease that oils the wheels of any endeavor in the world: money. Fundraisers are regularly held regularly to provide the quantities necessary to have access to expert, material, and the ability to give out scholarships. HATCH meetings constantly keep up with the times and provide a "Cyber Center" for youths to use the internet in a good environment that is consistently updated whenever possible.

Helping out with the fundraiser for me mostly involved setting up for the event on Friday and making sure all surfaces were clean and looked good for the fundraisers. I would have volunteered to help during the event itself on Saturday, but I have unfortunately been battling a rather obnoxious and draining bought of Scarlet Fever (a complication from my past strep throat fiasco).

In the following weeks I hope to get around to finally doing a more extensive search for the anonymous chat center.