U.S. Fund at work in our own backyard

Jennifer Chernaik is on the Interactive Marketing team of the U.S. Fund.

While our work at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF is focused on helping children around the world, we also support child-friendly projects in our own back yard–helping make the city we call home a better place for children.

Last Friday, the U.S. Fund partnered with New York Cares, an group bringing vital volunteer support to thousands of non-profit agencies, public schools and other deserving organizations.

The U.S. Fund’s Elizabeth Kiem, Jennifer Chernaik and Lauren Savage in front of a fresh TOT tag.

Our mission for the day was to spruce up the hallways and classrooms at the School for Global Leaders, a new middle school on Manhattan’s lower east side. The school has a global focus–students are required to take French, Spanish or Chinese–and the school partners with many community groups to highlight global issues in the classroom. Clearly this was our kind of school!

While some folks in our group got their paint rollers out and went to town, my team was asked to help create an inspiring learning environment by decorating the hallways with logos of the organizations that the school has partnered with. We stenciled and painted logos for organizations such as Teach for America, City Harvest and PETA, to name a few.

Arts and Crafts is definitely not my forte, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well my work turned out–and very impressed with my coworkers’ artistic skills. Special kudos to my colleague Elizabeth who was brave enough to paint our Trick or Treat for UNICEF logo. It turned out great!

All in all, it was a fun day and a great reminder of how good it feels to roll up your sleeves and make a difference. Not a bad way to spend a Friday!