Philippines | THE STORIES OF A VOLUNTEER

<–With Caryl M. Stern, the President and CEO of UNICEF.

I volunteer for many organizations but UNICEF is the one that truly drives me to do better. Unfortunately, Texas State does not have a UNICEF group and I have not had the chance to stay as involved as I would like to, other than through my brother and his high school UNICEF group back in Dallas. Thanks to the power of social media, I am trying to reach out to students on campus who may be interested in starting one with me sometime after the holiday break. With Texas State having over 35,000 students it is a little overwhelming to do alone. I have reached out to Alyssa Milano, (the reason I got involved in volunteering) and Selena Gomez, one of UNICEF’s youngest celebrity ambassador, who is also around our age, for tips or any motivation to get the ball rolling.

@selenagomez Our (#TXST) campus doesn't have a UNICEF group. Thinking about starting one. Any tips or motivation to get started? #FDOM

— 𝚕𝚎𝚡 (@lcarg_) December 8, 2013

@Alyssa_Milano Our (#TXST) campus doesn't have a UNICEF group. Thinking about starting one. Any tips or motivation to get started? #FDOM

— 𝚕𝚎𝚡 (@lcarg_) December 8, 2013

No response yet but stay tuned!

https://twitter.com/LexieCargile/statuses/409828401210327040

http://t.co/2eng8CH7sl @txst @UNICEFCampus #TXST #volunteer #FDOM

— 𝚕𝚎𝚡 (@lcarg_) December 8, 2013

I sent out these two tweets to all of my followers in hopes of rallying people to join me. I am anxious to see what I get back.

This is a video explaining what UNICEF Campus Initiative does and what it stands for.

To anyone interested in helping me with this journey PLEASE email me (Lexie.Cargile@aol.com or Lac173@txstate.edu), tweet me (@LexieCargile), or you can find me on Facebook (Lexie Cargile) and shoot me a message.

Be that change, BELIEVE IN ZERO.

UPDATE (December 9, 2013): The UNICEF Campus Initiative twitter retweeted my tweet about starting a UNICEF group at Texas State, and I have received several emails from people interested in joining! Though it’s not HUGE, it’s progress!

Celebrities for UNCIEF (volunteersanmarcos.wordpress.com)
Selena Gomez Inspired Vanessa Hudgens to Support UNICEF! (justjared.com)
UNICEF Club raises money for unfortunate families (wildcatnewspaper.com)
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF: Successful! (unicefcornellcollege.wordpress.com)
You are the Greatest Leader in Your Own Life (rutgersleaders.wordpress.com)
From Philadelphia to the Philippines: FISDU Students Contribute to Typhoon Relief (newsblog.drexel.edu)
UN Association Center defines ‘shopping for a cause’ (azstarnet.com)

Recently, I made a trip back home to Dallas, TX to visit family. Well, what started as a family visit ended up in a family volunteering weekend. My little brother, Jon Ross, took on a leadership role in UNICEF (the same group I founded with friends my junior year in high school) naturally, I was ecstatic to be able to help them in any way I could! In Texas, it is a huge Homecoming tradition to have large, over the top mums and garters! Every year, the Argyle UNICEF group has been making these gorgeous mums and selling them to help fundraise for events and trips to New York where the UNICEF corporate office is located! It took over our entire game room. It is not as easy as it looks, after many hot glue gun burns, ribbons, scissors, and teddy bears later they have successfully put together over 20 of these beautiful mums and garters to sell among the high school students, and 5 mums for the special needs children. They will be crowned these sometime during Homecoming week! Last year they raised $5,000 and I know this year they plan to raise even more. Attached below are some of the pictures from the mess and fun experience I had!

If you are interested in starting your own UNICEF club please email me at Lexie.Cargile@aol.com and I would absolutely love to help you get that started or answer any questions!