Kayla Rich

Professor Francis

Humanities 1010

17 April 2019

Civic Engagement

On March 2, 2019 I attended a fundraiser for a woman in my community named Nicole Harward.

Nicole is a wife and mother who has been diagnosed with stage three melanoma cancer. She has been

undergoing many different treatments and the costs for those are piling up since some are not covered by

her insurance. The purpose of the fundraiser was to raise money for her and her family so they can pay

Nicole’s hospital bills. The fundraiser was set up like a carnival in the Weber State campus in Layton.

There was a bake sale that my husband and I contributed to, we made rice krispie treats and s’mores

cookies. My husband and I also volunteered to help in the kid’s corner where we administered different

carnival games from 11am to 1pm. Baskets were donated from all sorts of different local business that

were handed out as raffles and also placed up for a silent auction. My husband and I also bought raffle

tickets to patriciate in the drawings. Lunch was donated by a local restaurant and at the very end of the

event there was a live auction where larger items like paintings and kayaks were auctioned off. At the

conclusion of the event, a total of $40,000 was raised to help Nicole and her family. The organization that

put this fundraising event together is called Anything for a Friend. The foundation was created by two

close friends, one of which was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. Their main focus is to put

together charity events that will raise money for individuals who are struggling with cancer as well as

promote awareness and support.

This event relates to the theme we spoke of in module three of the individual and society. I do not

know Nicole and her family very well and from talking to many different people at the event, I wasn’t the

only one. Hundreds of people came to this event to help someone that was struggling and from all these
people banding together, a community formed. I didn’t know many people there but I really felt as though

I was part of something really special and felt very close to everyone who was in attendance. Our

textbook provides evidence that even as the world was developing, there was great power in people

working together as a community. In the Paleolithic society as far back as six million to ten thousand

B.C.E (Fiero 2006 pg. 2) hunter-gatherers lived together and shared the meat and other foods that one

another had foraged. Moving forward to the Neolithic culture, groups of people began to grow larger as

they settled into permanent communities since they were able to farm food and stay in places for longer

periods of time (Fiero 2006 pg. 3). These examples from the textbook of different influential time periods

show there has always been great value in communities. Resources and how we obtain those resources

have always changed but the one thing that has stayed the same is the presence of individuals working

together to form communities to benefit their survival.

I think my experience in being involved in this fundraiser helped open my eyes to others who are

not in my close circle of friends and family. I really felt that I contributed and it felt good that it was for

the benefit of someone else, even though I didn’t really know the beneficiary. I have found that this

experience has made it easier for me to identify the needs of others and understand that everyone is

fighting a battle and just because you are not directly involved does not mean that you cannot contribute. I

think this experience helped me realize my freedom in the fact that only I can limit how I contribute to a

community and who I can reach. I used to place limits on myself and who exactly my community is.

Often times I would see a need but fell as though it wasn’t my place to intervene or that it even if I did it

wouldn’t make too much of a difference. This sort of thinking is selfishly based on only the needs of

myself and not the needs of others. Your community is who you choose to interact with. Just because

Nicole was not in my circle of friends and family does not mean she can’t be a part of my community.

I would absolutely do this experience again. After the experience I felt a little embarrassed that I

hadn’t really sought to participate in something like this before. I have always participated in those

fundraising organizations that cashiers tell you about at the store when they ask for a dollar or two or ask
to round up your total. This part of contributing is very important but there is a new sense of commitment

and inclusion when you are actively involved. Through this experience I have really seen the good that

can come from something that is small and simple. In total I really only gave up three or four hours of my

time between helping in the kids’ corner and baking for the bake sale which isn’t a lot if you think about

what Nicole was able to gain from all those people who were simply giving up a few dollars and hours of

their time. I think we always want things to get better and are so quick to jump on others for not helping

but we feel much more justified in our excuses when it comes to ourselves contributing. I feel like I

understand now that being part of a community is not just living and breathing in a space with a group of

people but being actively involved and seeking out where you fit in and how you can help others fit in a

well.
 Works Cited

Fiero, Gloria K. Landmarks in Humanities. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006.