Alex's Global Health Initiative Volunteer
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Alex Fontecchio and I am currently a freshman in high school. In addition to my academic schedule, I have been involved in theater, taken voice and guitar lessons, joined the model UN club, robotics club, and have been part of the fly-fishing club. I am also a high school athlete where I participated on my high school squash team and lacrosse team. I just finished my red cross life guard training certification along with my AED/First Aid/CPR certification. Over the summer I will be playing a lot of lacrosse but one thing that I am passionate about and committed to is global volunteer work.
Before the pandemic, during the summer between 7th and 8th grade I was able to participate in an educational volunteer program in Costa Rica where I worked with young children teaching English. I also helped to paint their school, plant and maintain their gardens, and learned about their culture and traditions. Through evening seminar discussions, I learned about educational opportunities in rural areas throughout the world. This was such an impactful and amazing experience.
Since I have recently become interested in medicine and medical information, I am looking forward to potentially taking some of the great classes offered at my school like Experimental Neurology, Molecules and Medicine, and Immunology and Disease in the future. Therefore, this summer, I have chosen to volunteer on a Global Public Health and Medicine Initiative for two weeks. The program originally was intended to be in Peru however because of the pandemic I will be traveling to the Dominican Republic. Through this experience I will shadow medical professionals while they provide pro-bono consultations to patients in at-risk communities and observe practices for providing health services. I will have the opportunity to spend time working in pop-up medical clinics learning about the differences between public health and medicine, and how community wellbeing depends on both. In these at-risk communities on the island, I’ll learn how crucial public health work can be in making a real difference between healthy and sick neighborhoods and learn how community engagement is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty. Finally, I will be able to engage in nightly seminars to learn from the experts and doctors in the field.
At this time, I am trying to raise the money required to participate in this program along with the airfare cost on my own through the generosity and support of others and by doing odds and ends jobs around my community. Any donation would be greatly appreciated or if you have a challenge within reason (i.e. Run 3miles for $X or something like the ice bucket challenge, etc.) or any odds and ends job that I can do, please let me know, I’m up for it. In my passion for volunteering, I would like to raise the financial requirements to continue forward through volunteer experiences learning and engaging in other cultures and hopefully having some positive impact on the lives of others. (any funds raised beyond the actual cost will be reserved for future volunteer opportunities that I am committed to continue)
Thank you for reading and for your generosity
Sincerely,
Alex Fontecchio
(class of 2024)
Before the pandemic, during the summer between 7th and 8th grade I was able to participate in an educational volunteer program in Costa Rica where I worked with young children teaching English. I also helped to paint their school, plant and maintain their gardens, and learned about their culture and traditions. Through evening seminar discussions, I learned about educational opportunities in rural areas throughout the world. This was such an impactful and amazing experience.
Since I have recently become interested in medicine and medical information, I am looking forward to potentially taking some of the great classes offered at my school like Experimental Neurology, Molecules and Medicine, and Immunology and Disease in the future. Therefore, this summer, I have chosen to volunteer on a Global Public Health and Medicine Initiative for two weeks. The program originally was intended to be in Peru however because of the pandemic I will be traveling to the Dominican Republic. Through this experience I will shadow medical professionals while they provide pro-bono consultations to patients in at-risk communities and observe practices for providing health services. I will have the opportunity to spend time working in pop-up medical clinics learning about the differences between public health and medicine, and how community wellbeing depends on both. In these at-risk communities on the island, I’ll learn how crucial public health work can be in making a real difference between healthy and sick neighborhoods and learn how community engagement is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty. Finally, I will be able to engage in nightly seminars to learn from the experts and doctors in the field.
At this time, I am trying to raise the money required to participate in this program along with the airfare cost on my own through the generosity and support of others and by doing odds and ends jobs around my community. Any donation would be greatly appreciated or if you have a challenge within reason (i.e. Run 3miles for $X or something like the ice bucket challenge, etc.) or any odds and ends job that I can do, please let me know, I’m up for it. In my passion for volunteering, I would like to raise the financial requirements to continue forward through volunteer experiences learning and engaging in other cultures and hopefully having some positive impact on the lives of others. (any funds raised beyond the actual cost will be reserved for future volunteer opportunities that I am committed to continue)
Thank you for reading and for your generosity
Sincerely,
Alex Fontecchio
(class of 2024)
Organizer and beneficiary
Alex Fontecchio
Organizer
Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Helping Assistant
Beneficiary