Second week journal entry

As I’m beginning my project I feel very excited and motivated to create something I care about so much but at the same time I feel slightly overwhelmed with the responsibility and work that are going to arise the deeper I get into the project and how I’m going to balance that with my academic work. When I feel overwhelmed I remind myself that this project is actually something that matters and could make a difference in animals lives and inspire some people to reduce their meat consumption. This keeps me motivated and surpasses those negative feelings. I’m also slightly nervous about my fundraisers not being successful or Covid affecting their outcome. To manage this I have been thinking a lot about my fundraisers and how to ensure they are successful and talking with my mom who already has experience organizing large events like this. 

My smart goals for the project are to carry out different successful fundraisers before the middle of my second trimester raising a minimum of 4 thousand dollars. In order to be able to work with Cavalinni and the shelter to organize a fixing campaign and give medical treatment to at least 50 rescued animals, and facilitate their adoptions. I will do this through the creation of social media pages while also spreading awareness on the effect our diet has on the environment and the impact it can have on our emissions. These goals are SMART because they are specific clear ideas that can be measured since I have set goals like raising 4 thousand dollars minimum, or helping at least 50 animals. They are also attainable because after meeting with Gilberth who owns the shelter and works at Cavallini I learned that when they do fixing campaign it costs 2000 dollars to fix 100 animals. They are realistic because my first fundraiser which is a tennis/ pickleball tournament will generate a good profit. I know this because my parents own a tennis and pickleball business that already has many regular players, the involvement with these sports are really great and I will also have many other activities that will raise funds like food and rafles and drinks. And finally they are timely because I set an expectation to finish my fundraising by the middle of the second trimester. I can review these goals after my fundraising is completed and by the end of my Ib experience. 

Our community is always in need of support and help for animals, even though many people already have projects similar to this and work to help fight this issue there’s always mistreated and abandoned animals in our area that need help. Or people that have animals and don’t have the financial means to pay for their care, this is why I have always known that this would be my CAS project. Since this is an issue a lot of people already work to combat finding people that are willing to help is decently easy, everyone is very supportive and just wants to help as many animals as possible. It’s also something that people generally feel for and want to support. My vision for the end of this project is to either pass it on to another student or to work with the shelter and pass over the social media pages so they can keep doing the work I would be doing if they are interested.