Stand & Serve

What we're all about: STAND & SERVE (S & S) is a student-run club with approximately 200 members in Tempe, Arizona committed to taking a stand on issues important to students, & serving their community. Our mission is to bring peace and unity to Tempe and the greater community through service, education, awareness, & prevention activities. S & S strives to communicate love & empathy by appreciating diversity, keeping an open mind & promoting respect for all. For two years, S & S has received the City of Tempe's Educational Diversity award. S & S collaborates with all high schools in Tempe & Gililland and McKemy Junior High Schools.

Cool things we do:

• January - S & S participates in Unity Month, the City of Tempe Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, a toiletries drive for the homeless and the PAZ Conference.
• February - S & S sponsors Respect and Love Month activities at school & in the community, a Leadership Skills Retreat with Tempe Youth Leadership, and addresses positive body image and eating disorders.
• March - S & S supports homeless youth in Tempe and takes a break.
• April - S & S addresses SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH & links activities with Tempe schools & ASU. In addition to the neon orange theme, yarn, flyers, banners & daily announcements, S & S offers speakers, distributes resources, has a sidewalk chalk campaign and implements community projects. S & S will also contribute to the development & implementation of Uniting Youth: Celebrating Peace, Diversity & Respect, a Tempe youth conference addressing Diversity Appreciation & Violence Prevention.
• May - S & S promotes Random Acts of Kindness Week, Trains and Plans for summer programs.
• June & July - S & S members develop and implement a peer education/mentorship program for Gililland & McKemy Junior High School students in the City of Tempe's Teen Zone Program. S&S also participates in the taping of four "Generation Us" TV shows for WB61.
• August & September - S & S devotes time to Respect Month and planning the year's events including a retreat.
• October - S & S promotes Peace & Domestic Violence Awareness Month & links with Tempe schools, ASU & the community, volunteers for the Hispanic Cultural Heritage Festival, Tempe Tardeada & addresses Breast Cancer.
• November - S & S addresses Gun Violence and Depression Awareness and prevention.
• December - S & S has some fun and takes a break.

S & S Partners: Stand & Serve is hosted by Peer Solutions, Inc. (PSI), and is supported by Tempe High School, Arizona Department of Health Services, Social Venture Partners Arizona, the City of Tempe, ASU, the Governor's Community Policy Office, Teen Zone, Tempe's Promise to Youth, Tempe Youth Leadership, Peter Piper Pizza, CAP Gun Violence, Channel 3/WB61, Remuda Ranch, Angel Society, Mental Health Association of Arizona and other Tempe schools.

Comments from s & s members: What do you like about STAND & SERVE: "Everything! Especially the honesty and the working together to make the world more beautiful;" "The diverse group interaction, the way we feel free to openly express;" "How we get a good example of others modeling respect;" "I love the way you guys make me feel like I am not alone in my desires to care;" "How they talk about real problems in the world;" "That nobody judges anyone, and that everyone acts nice and treats everyone equally;" "Hearing other peoples opinions regardless of my stance on the topic."

Want more info? If you are interested in attending and/or assisting with any meetings or program activities, please call Denise Ferguson or Dr. Eileen Yellin at THS @ 480-967-1661, or Jennifer Rauhouse at Peer Solutions, Inc. @ 602-225-0942, RespectPSI@aol.com. Many special thanks to S & S members & their families, school staff, and our community partners.