Tour of Detroit with United Way

Jeanette Pierce (Tour Guide for Inside Detroit)

Students Working Onward Together would like to thank United Way for Southeastern Michigan for the tour of United Way and the city of Downtown Detroit. On the tour were SWOT Executives and members of the Blueprints Leadership Program. Jeanette Pierce (tour guide) took the group to United Way's 2-1-1 Center and to Educational Preparedness, to expose the group to aspects of how United Way is impacting the community.

THE MISSION OF UNITED WAY

"The mission of United Way for Southeastern Michigan is to mobilize the caring power of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan to improve communities and individual lives in measurable and lasting ways."

Throughout the day the group was greeted by members of United Way and even the CEO Michael Brennan, who was holding the door for the group on the way to the tour. Some members of the tour had never been to Detroit, and after the tour were glad to know of the city's history. It was also fun to hear a joke from the CEO, for those who were shy to admit they had never been to the city.

So again SWOT would like to thank United Way and Jeanette Pierce for a day filled with memories and experiences.

"Changing our World with every helping hand."

Gandhi Day of Service 2007 Reflection

Leticia and Robert

To my S.W.O.T. Family,

My experience at the Gandhi National Day of Service was a lot of fun. The Greening of Detroit was awesome! To be able to get outside and make a difference to a community by simply planting trees was rewarding to me. The best part was just seeing the residents come outside with their cameras and tell us how excited they were, made it all worth while. One resident stated, “Our tree died so we had to have it cut down about ten years ago. I can’t wait to just watch it grow! Thank you for doing this for us.”

In addition to that I made some new friends that had the same passion for people and their community as I do. We were motivated by each others spirit and we definitely pushed each other to get the job done!!! Can’t wait till the next project.

Leticia Horry

Thank You for Participating!

Group photo at Greening of Detroit

Message from Director

I would like to thank everyone who participated in "Gandhi Day of Service". This year there were four places that students could volunteer at: Greening of Detroit, World Medical Relief, Gleaners Community Food Bank and Arts and Scraps. It was very gratifying to see the number of students coming on a Saturday to provide a service for the Metro-Detroit community.

This year students from Michigan Health Academy were out volunteering with University of Michigan-Dearborn students to help plant trees with Greening of Detroit. Many of the students were fulfilling their requirement of volunteer hours for High School but most of them left with an understanding of the importance of volunteerism and service to the community.

"Gandhi Day of Service 2007"

"The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others." -Gandhi

I would like to thank all the members of SWOT who participated in this day, as we continue to spread the message of making the difference through our actions. I hope everyone had a great day because I truly did.

-SWOT Director