On our second service day in NYC, God’s Love We Deliver cancelled their operations because of the snow. We spent a portion of our day working for a non-profit organization called Common Cents which works in the school systems to develop student leaders and promote philanthropy.
Students spend the fall collecting pennies to benefit charities that they feel are important. Last year the schools raised over half a million dollars in pennies alone. Our group assembled approximately 2500 penny pins that will be distributed to local public schools. The pens are given to thirty students in each school that teachers recognize as leaders. As of right now, there are about 484,435 students participating in this program.
After our service work was completed for the day, we took a group trip to The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, the largest free standing cathedral in the country. On display there is a memorial in honor of those who have lost their lives to the AIDS. We could not see a large portion of the cathedral due to the fire of 2001, but what we did get to see was breathtaking and amazing.
That night we all went to see the Broadway show Rent. Rent is a contemporary musical that allowed us a glimpse of what it would be like to be a young person living with AIDS in New York City.
