South San Francisco, CA September 16, 2015 Submitted by Patricia Manubay
Patricia Manubay, a Senior at El Camino High School, won the Lead 360/ Jefferson Award in Education and Literacy with her DREAM BOX creations
Early this year my service project, Dream Boxes, won the National Jefferson Awards Lead360 program under the category Education and Literacy; once an idea and a dream is now slowly becoming a reality.
So what are Dream Boxes? Dream Boxes are boxes filled with school supplies, art supplies, a dream journal, a book, and a letter of encouragement. The purpose of Dream Boxes is to ensure that young students have the right tools they need to be successful in school, but also the encouragement and support to pursue their dreams. I am a big advocate for following your dreams despite life obstacles, I believe every student has the right to pursue something they are naturally talented and passionate for. Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”; and my team and I believe that.
Over the past few months, I have worked with schools, communities, people from all over the country to help expand this dream of creating a generation of passionately driven students. Dream Boxes has been featured in Everything South City, the San Mateo Daily Journal, You Tube, and even MTV News.
Since March I’ve distributed over 5,000 dream boxes to students all over the United States and in the Philippiness; ensuring they have the tools for success, and the encouragement to follow their dreams.
Patricia collecting supplies for #DreamBoxes
This month is National Literacy Month and I am launching a campaign for Dream Boxes nationally. Although my goal for this year is 100,000, in honor of National Literacy Month my goal for this month is to package as many Dream Boxes as I can. Unfortunately, I am running low on supplies since my last distribution in August.
I am partnering with the South San Francisco Police Department in hosting a city school supply drive. The school supply drive ends on November 30th, but I want to get as many supplies as I can get before September 24th. I have also started a gofundme for monetary donations which you can find CLICK HERE. Please help by spreading the word about Dream Boxes and my story so it reaches its goal and help hundreds of students get the supplies they need for school. Any amount of donation will help a lot!
I really need some help with this project from my city, and it would be great to have everyone get involved whether its donating a few dollars or a few packs of crayons. Thank you!
– Patricia Manubay
ESC NOTE: to read more about Patricia’s work in our communities please CLICK HERE
***SUPPLY DONATION: if you have any unused or new school supplies and want to donate it to Dream Boxes please drop them off at the South San Francisco Police Department! Their drive ends Nov. 30, but if you have any please donate as soon as you can for September! (Shout out to SSFPD, you guys rock).
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