The Fundraising Page of Lariska Theron

Hey friends/family/people who are reading this because they want to make me happy: (P.S. if you want a summary/TL;DR (too long didn’t read), scroll to the bottom) This summer I will be participating in my second year of Unicamp, UCLA's official charity. Service is something that has always been near and dear to my heart. During the past four years at UCLA, I've volunteered at various animal shelters and hospitals, I’ve led campus tours for rising high school seniors, and I’ve served as Vice President of Philanthropy for my sorority (Phi Sigma Rho, a sorority for women in hard science and engineering). But even with all the other service I do, UCLA's Unicamp has been the most rewarding and life-changing organization that I have had the honor of working for. Last year, I spent a week at a beautiful campsite in Big Bear teaching 13-16 year olds leadership experience and self-motivation by belaying them as they rock climbed, jumped tree to tree, and completed obstacle courses in the forest. These activities required the (almost 200) adolescents to face their fears and push themselves, while also relying on team building and trust activities. Watching them grow over the course of the week and grow closer as they encouraged each other was incredibly inspiring. I cannot wait for another beautiful, encouraging, and motivating week at camp this summer, and there is only one thing stopping me from accomplishing my goal: the cost. Many of the children we serve come from underserved and disadvantaged backgrounds. Last year, most of my campers were in UCLA’s BGSA (Bruin Guardian Scholars Academy), a program for foster youth from the LA area. This year, my campers will be with Project GRAD, a program that accelerates education equity by encouraging high school students in the Los Angeles area to attend higher education. Currently, only 11% of low-income first generation students in the communities they serve obtain a bachelor's degree within six years of finishing high school. Project GRAD hopes to increase that to over 70% by 2020(!!!!!!!) and this week of Unicamp is the first part of a summer-long program in which students will take community courses for college credit, and get help studying for the ACT/SAT and applying to college. 100% of the donations I receive will be used to fund camp for these wonderful kids. Camp is not possible without giving and selfless people like yourselves, and I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this and consider donating to this cause