I helped some of the staff at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. Then I was also able to be given the opportunity to sit in on a meeting in the General Assembly building.

I had previously emailed my principal to set up a meeting to discuss my project, a Blessing Box, to go on our school's campus. On this day, we held the meeting to discuss the actual project and all the logistics to go with the Blessing Box. Prior to the meeting, I prepared a project proposal to present to my principal. At the conclusion of the meeting, my principal approved my project, including the installation of the Blessing Box on my school's campus.

These events occurred over multiple dates. (8/8/25, 9/5/25, 9/8/25, 11/14/25, 12/8-12/12/25) 1. Contacted and met with the owner of Red Devil Hardware to discuss my service project and to ask for their participation in donating the hardware and various materials needed to build my Blessing Box. (1.00 hour) 2. Contacted and met with the owner of AG Parker Lumber Company to discuss my service project and to ask for their participation in donating the lumber needed to build my Blessing Box. (1.00 hour) 3. Contacted and met with the advisors of my school's chapter of National Honor Society to discuss my service project and to ask for their partnership in hosting a food drive to fill my Blessing Box. (1.00 hour) 4. Created and distributed flyers at my school to advertise the NHS food drive, hosted a table during lunches over the course of a week to inform and collect food for the drive. (4.00 hours)

All of this service project work was done over multiple dates. (9/20/25, 10/18/25, 12/19/25, 12/20/25, 2/24/26, 3/29/26, 4/14/26) 1. On 9/20/25, I worked alongside my father and a fellow student to cut the wood, sand the wood and burn the wood for the Blessing Box. (6.00 hours) 2. On 10/18/25, I worked alongside my father and a fellow student to drill the pocket holes into the wood for the screws and put multiple coats of polyurethane on the wood to protect the Blessing Box from rotting. (4.00 hours) 3. On 12/19/25, I separated the food that was donated from my school's chapter of National Honor Society's food drive and checked the dates to make sure they were still in date. (2.00 hours) 4. On 12/20/25, I worked alongside my father to go back and trim some of the boards that had started to warp. (2.00 hours) 5. On 2/24/26, I worked alongside my father to begin assembling the Blessing Box by screwing the boards together and doing some finishing touch-ups on the wood. (2.00 hours) 6. On 3/29/26, I worked alongside my father to begin cutting, burning and assembling the pieces of wood for the stand that the Blessing Box will be sitting on when it is put into the ground. (4.00 hours) 7. On 4/14/26, I worked alongside my father to hang the doors and put the handles on the Blessing Box. The Blessing Box is now fully assembled and ready to be installed on my school's campus. (2.00 hours)

Outcome: During this service project, I was able to plan and build a Blessing Box that will be installed on my school's campus next week. I reached out to two local businesses as well as a school club to make this opportunity possible for our community. This Blessing Box will be open to the public, allowing everyone to stop and receive what they need. As people come up and get the food from the Blessing Box, I will continue to check it and restock it on a needed basis, so that everyone will get the chance to grab what they need. Reflection: Building this Blessing Box has been a very fulfilling experience for me, as it has allowed me to create something that my local community will be able to benefit from now and in the future. Planning and executing this service project also gave me an opportunity to build my leadership skills and project organizing skills, which will help me in my future plans.