The Importance of Teamwork

The Importance of Teamwork

Olivia Gieger

Honestly, as a new member of the teen leadership corps, starting a Cradles to Crayons collection drive was really scary. The task of collecting 15 trash bags of clothes or books or toys was intimidating. The fact that hundreds of children were fully dependent on having these items was that much more intimidating. How could I, the new little freshman from Wellesley High School, take on such an important task?

Luckily I wasn’t alone in completing this seemingly impossible endeavor. I joined up with my fellow classmates and teen leaders, Louise Lynn and Ethan Chiu, and together- although we still had to each collect the same amount of donations- the task seemed a little less ominous.

Louise, Ethan, and I brainstormed together and decided we wanted to have a book drive. We made it our goal not only to collect books in good condition, but we wanted to collect titles that would excite children and inspire an interest in reading for them. We reached out to local elementary schools and set up collection bins there. We all met with the management of Wellesley Books, and they helped us tremendously, giving us a collection bin in their store and spreading the word of our drive through their social media. We also spread the word through friends, family, and neighbors with young children, which proved to be very effective; most of our donations came from asking friends.

When the drive was over, we had collected 1,130 books which would go to help over 375 children. This was incredibly rewarding to think we could make an impact in the lives of so many kids with something as special as a book. Even more so, however, it was especially rewarding to think that Louise, Ethan, and I completed it as a team, and in doing so we were upholding one of Cradles to Crayons’ core beliefs of working together and connecting a community.