Horse Project 2nd Annual Backyard BBQ

This isn't a completely "global" experience, but it definitely is outside of my community, so I consider it part of my global outreach to gain new perspectives. Historically, Watts has been a neighborhood with a high black population, but in recent years the neighborhood has adopted a very high latino/a population.

My friends and I started the Horse Project after several years of volunteering with Operation Progress, a Watts/South L.A.-based enrichment program where Los Angeles PD officers to mentor inner-city youth-at-risk. OP offers an equestrian program which has been really successful.  Each Saturday during the school year, the officer-mentors drive the OP scholars to a stable in Burbank where volunteers (like us) work with the kids. We help teach the them how to be responsible for animals, how to expand out of their comfort zone, and, best of all, how to just be kids. Last year, when OP was going to close the equestrian program because they didn’t have enough money to fund it, we decided to see if we could raise the money we needed to keep the program alive. So, we got together with my sister, Katie, and some of my close friends, and we created the Horse Project. The Horse Project’s Junior Committee members are both volunteers and supporters of OP.  The Junior Committee is working hard to make the equestrian program better: we want to expand the number of students able to work in the program, expand the curriculum to include more responsibility handling the horses, and include more connection between the kids and the volunteers.

Last year, the Junior Committee set out with a mission to raise $28,500 to keep the Equestrian Program alive. Through generous donations and sponsorships, we were able to raise roughly $43,000. This year, our target is $32,000, but we hoped to raise more.

The 2nd Annual Backyard Barbecue was a huge success. We haven't reached our target yet, but there are still some checks on the way. Teaching these kids has been an absolutely unforgettable experience for me, but really I have not taught them as much as they have taught me. They have taught me so much about what is valuable in life and how magnificent it is to just be alive each and every day. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this terrific program and watch these kids flourish.