Volunteerism
Brighton Ski Patrol
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Wasatch Adaptive sports
As an current volunteer instructor assistant with Wasatch Adaptive Sports I work with the paid instructors to provide the perfect skiing or snowboarding experience for physically and/or mentally disabled children, adults, and veterans. I have received special training in the use of adaptive snow sport devices to facilitate the students’ transport around a ski resort. As part of the program we work with the students to discover their goals: Do they just want to experience the feeling of sliding on snow? Or do they want to ski the deepest powder on black runs? Whatever they want, I help make it happen.
Primary Children’s Hospital
I volunteered in the Primary Children’s Hospital Emergency Department. My responsibilities included directing patients and their families through the hospital, cleaning toys, pushing the ‘fun cart’ from room to room, and making patients more comfortable in their rooms.
International Rescue COmmittee
The International Rescue Committee is a wonderful non-profit that provides housing, clothes, and food to refugees. I volunteered in the Salt Lake City office and helped refugees learn how to grocery shop and navigate stores here in the U.S.. I also assisted by providing childcare while parents took courses on how to write checks and use laundry machines.
Michael and Ina Korek Foundation
At the Michael and Ina Korek Foundation I direct a small portion of funds towards charities that meet giving requirements and I have assisted in the development of an ad campaign targeting drunk driving. MADD and NASBLA have partnered with us to distribute and promote the campaign that has reached more than 1 million people.
Peru for Life
Peru for Life is an organization that finds young mothers in orphanages and brings them to their facilities to feed them, cloth them, and educate them and their children. I worked at the Cuzco, Peru facility for 3 months taking care of the children and teaching them English. I also assisted them in a complete move and renovation of their facilities to a location in downtown Cuzco.
Jatun Sacha
Jatûn Sacha means “Great Tree” in Quechua, the dialect of the Incans. This organization runs an ecological preserve thousands of acres in size that serves as a buffer between industry and the largest national park in Ecuador. Volunteering with Jatun Sacha it was my responsibility to walk the perimeters of the reserve to monitor for poacher and illegal logging activity. I collected hidden camera footage at known violation sites and sent footage onward to the authorities.
EndemiC Species Protection
On the Galapagos Islands I worked with Fundación Bolivar Education on a controlled plot of land to protect the rare and delicate native species of the island. Work involved clearing small portions of land at a time, removing invasive species, protecting endemic species and planting new, native plants. We lived side-by-side with locals and gathered much of our own food after spending long days clearing land.
Teaching English
In Quito, Ecuador I volunteered to teach English at New Vision School - a primary and secondary school. I worked with the students’ full time teacher and taught the lesson plans prepared for me. After lecture, I would assist students with handouts and homework in English. I learned as much from they students as they did from me, trading English for Spanish during recess.