{"id":2145,"date":"2018-06-04T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T10:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/?p=2145"},"modified":"2018-06-22T03:48:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T03:48:44","slug":"empire-family-takes-on-public-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/?p=2145","title":{"rendered":"Empire Family Takes on Public Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students Offered Opportunities to Volunteer at 2018 Competitions<\/span><\/h3>\n

After a successful trial-run last year, Empire is excited to introduce public service opportunities at all three of its competitions in 2018. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPublic service teaches young people the value of doing good for others, which is such an important lesson at this stage of their lives,\u201d explained Empire\u2019s Executive Director, Justin Matarrese. \u201cThis initiative is part of our broader mission of developing students into engaged and compassionate citizens.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Before students battle in the courtroom, they\u2019ll work together to serve the communities in which their competitions are held. \u00a0We will actively encourage all of our students to participate!<\/span><\/p>\n

For this week\u2019s OTR piece, we\u2019ll take a look back at our 2017 projects and ahead to what our Family should expect this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empire San Francisco: GLIDE Memorial<\/b><\/p>\n

Last year, Empire San Francisco teams volunteered at GLIDE Memorial, where students helped feed the homeless in San Francisco. Some helped set up and prepare meals by chopping vegetables and bagging lunches. Others were responsible for serving the meals. <\/span><\/p>\n

King’s High School from Seattle, Washington participated in the project.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHelping prepare meals and learning about problems people face in our cities showed me that everyone can have a positive impact in the life of another person,\u201d said Jake Orme, a student on the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only did they make a significant impact by serving over 200 people, students also learned about the mission of the organization and how it informs GLIDE\u2019s work every day. Marian Morris, the coach for King\u2019s, spoke about the support the students received from the staff:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff was so gracious to answer the students\u2019 questions and engage them in an in-depth meaningful dialogue regarding poverty and homelessness,\u201d remarked Morris.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her daughter, Kathryn, a freshman on the team, spoke about the perspective she gained from the experience: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGlide exposed me to the fact that even in a beautiful city like San Francisco, there are parts of town where there is suffering and pain,\u201d reflected Kathryn. \u201cThe people at Glide were so grateful for our help\u2026 and I hope I get to participate in a similar volunteer opportunity again soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Empire is excited to announce that it will be hosting this project at GLIDE Memorial again in 2018! We are also working on additional volunteer opportunities for Empire San Francisco, so stay tuned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empire New York: Pitch In, Pick Up<\/b><\/p>\n

New York natives and visitors alike frequently enjoy the lovely greenspace offered by Central Park. But of the 35 million visitors each year, few are aware of the maintenance required to keep it beautiful. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Central Park Conservancy is the organization dedicated to keeping Central Park\u2019s 843 acres lush and vibrant. But they cannot do it alone. With the amount of time, energy, and resources required to keep it clean, they rely on the community for support. They set up a program called Pitch In, Pick Up to do just that. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, three teams participated in this program, doing everything from cleaning an area of the park to sweeping the sidewalks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun to act as the cleanup crew with our badges, and think of creative places to find litter,\u201d said Lauren Dangel, a senior at Central High School from Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lauren\u2019s team even turned the adventure into a competition: they battled to see whose trash bags were the fullest! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiving back to Empire, and especially the community that held it, seemed as natural as going to the competition itself,\u201d said Neely Ayers, Lauren\u2019s teammate at Central High School. \u201cWalking through Central Park and making it a little more beautiful for someone else is something I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For some, it was a nice break from the high tensions that come with trial competitions. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>For others, it was a great opportunity to make new friends and strengthen existing bonds. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>For all, it was a great opportunity to give back to the community while working with others who shared the same goal of volunteering for the common good. <\/span><\/p>\n

Students will have the opportunity to Pitch In and Pitch Out again this year! Keep an eye out for sign-ups.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empire Atlanta: New Service Projects!<\/b><\/p>\n

The United Way in Atlanta is ready to put our Empire Family to work assembling and decorating snack packs. The packs will be given to children in low income areas whose education is affected by hunger and housing instability. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe snack pack project is an amazing opportunity for every student competing in Atlanta to participate in one collaborative service project,\u201d explained Empire\u2019s Director of Competition Experience, Amber Rumancik. \u201cPrior to the start of the opening ceremony, all students will work together to create these snack packs. Not only will we be providing local children with needed nutrients, but also with encouragement\u2013each bag will be decorated with quotes, poems, pictures and words of inspiration. I couldn\u2019t be more excited about this partnership and the opportunity for the whole Empire Atlanta group to work together.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Empire Atlanta is offering a project with Safehouse Outreach that will allow students to serve lunch to the homeless. Afterwards, volunteers will be able to talk with the homeless and learn their stories. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

We hope that your team will consider joining us this year as we serve the local communities that are kind enough to host our competitions. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teams that are interested in applying for a 2018 Empire competition can still do so! Just go to empiremocktrial.org\/apply<\/a>. Applications are due by <\/span>June 21.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students Offered Opportunities to Volunteer at 2018 Competitions After a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2145"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2158,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2145\/revisions\/2158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontherecord.empiremocktrial.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}