News
CARP Bay Area and YSP-SFP (Youth and Students for Peace - Service for Peace) gathered on the evening of November 22, 2021 to prepare boxes of fresh produce, canned goods, turkeys, chickens, and Thanksgiving ingredients to distribute to families from the Oakland Community.
On May 29th, 2021, CARP Bay Area, the hub consisting of chapters from Chabot College, California State University East Bay, and University of California Berkeley, teamed up with Service for Peace (YSP) and Generation Peace Academy (GPA) for a service project in Oakland Chinatown.
CARP Bay Area concluded a successful MLK 40 Days of Service from January 18 to February 27, 2021.
During the 40 Days of Service, the mural team and volunteers from various organizations would meet once a week to help paint the welcome section of the mural stating: “Welcome to Sobrante Park.” Each service day, a group of 15 to 20 volunteers would show up early in the morning ready to contribute to beautifying the wall. Many times while painting the wall, passersby would stop and express their utmost gratitude for our service and also want to learn how they can begin to plug in and contribute to the project. It was an incredible feeling seeing the face of true joy and gratitude from the community.
Seventeen members from CARP, Youth and Students for Peace (YSP), and Generation Peace Academy (GPA) gathered at the Clifton Family Church in New Jersey on the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to make peace message bags as part of a service for the wider community of Newark, NJ.
For the past two to three months, a small team has been meeting to create a design to paint on the wall along Sobrante park on Edes & 105th Ave. For Martin Luther King Jr Day this year, it was wonderful to see people come out eager to serve whether that was to help with the mural or another local project in the Sobrante Park Neighborhood and all over Oakland. Volunteers from CARP, Higher Ground, and the Bay Area Family Church gathered together to begin the mural project by first being reminded of Dr. King’s spirit of serving and the hopes and goals for the mural we are painting.
On March 9, CARP Grand Rapids, CARP Chicago, and CARP Indianapolis came together to host a Youth and Students for Peace (YSP) seminar for youth and CARP members at the Chicago Family Church.
Naria Gaarder, the Program Coordinator YSP, and also the main speaker of the event, started the event off by explaining YSP as an organization and its goals towards creating a world of peace. She explained the importance of creating peace on three different levels; starting from within the individual, peace could be spread to the community and to the environment. The participants were able to take the time to reflect on their own lives and develop action plans towards generate peace in their own lives. Naria informed the audience that peace could only be developed when we were able to envision it in our own lives.
As a chapter leader of CARP, one motto that I kept to myself at heart is that the best leader shows by example rather than words. Perhaps it’s because I have challenged myself and have gone through a trying path, that for some reason it’s so easy for me to fall in love with people. When I see a person going out of their comfort zone, even for one second, because I know the challenge behind it, I find deep appreciation towards that person.
I’m grateful to be part of CARP, and my time in CARP has most definitely shaped who I am today. I was able to learn on a deeper level the heart of God and the heart of my brothers and sisters. My life is for the better, and I’m proud to have been part of CARP.
For me personally, it’s not about increasing the membership of CARP; it’s about how many people can I love today? How many relationships can I create today? Can they feel the authenticity of God’s love through me? Those are my main concerns every time I am on campus.
The biggest lesson I have learned from being in CARP is that the most effective formula for happiness is to give it to others. I have learned that only through raising others can I truly grow.
