Alex Schneider, 13
years old
Neighborhood Housing
Services is honored to nominate Alex Schneider for A Message of Compassion
from Idaho’s Children Award. Alex has served as an active volunteer for our
organization for three years.
He volunteers as a Captain for our Paint the
Town and Rake Up Boise teams every year, organizing volunteers to paint and
clean up yards for senior and disabled residents unable to do it
themselves. This summer he organized 35 volunteers to paint and fix up one
of the 86 Paint the Town projects. Alex worked with local businesses
procuring donations so that his senior living on a fixed income could have a
new driveway, and new flowerbeds with a sprinkler system. Each year, Alex
helps at our paint workshops and assists in distributing over 1,150 gallons
of paint along with numerous brushes, rollers, and tubes of caulk.
During Rake Up Boise 2004
Alex helped recruit students from his school, River Glen Middle School, to
rake and winterize the lawns of 2 Boise senior citizens. He and 25 of his
classmates filled up 20 bags of leaves to be composted in city parks. Alex
focused on making sure his classmates had a great volunteer experience so
that they would continue to go out and volunteer in the community. He is
looking forward to going back to school to recruit for Rake Up Boise 2005.
Alex also volunteers to
assist with many of our events. At a recent Multicultural Festival held to
celebrate diversity for residents (including refugees of a Somali Bantu
Tribe) at one of our multifamily communities, Alex cooked hot dogs and
helped with clean up. “Chef Alex” has also grilled hamburgers and chicken at
our Annual Meetings, National Night Out Celebrations (one of hundreds of
National Night Out events held across America to celebrate crime prevention
and crime free neighborhoods), and other activities held at our multifamily
communities.
Alex has served as a youth
representative for our Resource Development Committee for the past 3 years.
He volunteers his time to help with fund raising events and provides a
unique youth prospective at our monthly committee meetings. Alex has donated
several items for our silent auctions and has secured cash donations on
behalf of Homeward Bound, our program for homeless families with children.
He recently joined the Homeward Bound
Advisory Committee to assist with children’s activities. When he realized
the families in the program did not have computers he set out to get them.
So far, he has secured 4 computers with current operating systems and is
working with local businesses to get software. Alex realized that getting
up-to-date computers is just a small part of the battle- someone needs to
help them learn how to use them! He is currently working with Computers for
Kids, a learning center, on curriculum himself, with supervision, because he
feels that the kids can learn better from someone their own age. Alex plans
to encourage his students to teach their parents the skills as well.
Technology can be an important part of helping
Homeward Bound families
break the cycle of poverty – and that is very important to Alex.
Alex also shares his
computer talents at his school. He has designed web sites for the PTA PAWs
group, 4 of his teachers, and the jazz band.
Alex is a true gem. He
consistently and unselfishly commits his time and talents to improve the
quality of life in our community. From helping seniors on fixed incomes…to
teaching children computer skills, Alex really makes an impact on our
community. His compassion for others makes him an ideal candidate for A
Message of Compassion for Idaho’s Children Award.
