Service with a Smile
Francesca Faccin
(upbeat music) - Hey everyone, welcome back to Service with a Smile. I'm Isabella and thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. So today we're going to kind of focus on social media awareness and how easy it is to make an impact even if it's just online or through social media. And I think that this is a really important subject that we haven't really talked about much on here. And so I'm very excited to get into today's episode. Before we continue, I would also like to touch on, my background is still changing and I'm still moving around places. But when I start filming at the end of August is when I'm finally going to have a set place to do all of my recordings and all of my podcasting. So just kind of wait for that. So without further ado, I'm going to let my guests today introduce herself. - Hi, my name's Francesca. I'm from Plantation, Florida. And I'm going to be a senior out of American Heritage High School. - Okay, hi Francesca. Thank you so much for joining me today. So diving right into the questions today, what first got you started into community service? Was there a specific event or maybe a specific time where you started getting really passionate about community service? - So, I mean, every single high school where they always are like, "Oh, I need to get service hours to complete high school." And obviously I started through like the drives that the school hosts. And I just ended up realizing how, how fun it is. And you don't even have to do it with the school. Like you can do it out of school as simple as going to hospital, volunteering. Like it's just fun. There wasn't any specific event. But I mean, it all started off from, there's this club at the school called SAD and they held a drive. And they were like, "You can donate as much as you want." And I donated like up to $300 of the stuff. And it's just like, it's a nice feeling knowing that you can help people out with like a small amount of service. - I think that's amazing. I think that a lot of times when I talk to people on here, they're usually talking about how maybe it was a specific event or maybe it was one person that inspired them. But I will say it's very easy to become passionate about community service just by doing casual things like you do with your school. And like you said, little drives and donations and things that make a difference. So going right into your community service organization, can you tell me what neuro insights is? - So neuro insights, it's basically a little platform on Instagram. And I'm currently through the process of making it a website but it's where individuals like me and Ava Miller had to bring awareness about neurological diseases, mainly Parkinson's since my grandmother had it. And I think a lot like obviously neurological disease ever single one is attention. But seeing my grandma at such a young age is so sick. Like it's just, I think it's like, I'm doing an active service for her. And it's really simple. I think Donate SMPLS five dollars to organization are just like reposting the account. So people know what it is, like signs of it, ways to prevent it, stuff like that, and other neurological diseases too. - I think that's amazing. And I've been following along this account like since it was created. And already I've seen so much progress and so much like a huge kind of increase in following and information being spread. And I think that that is really, really important. For one really quick second, I'd like to take a step aside from neuro insights and talk a little bit about what you do at school and like what extracurriculars do you do and kind of what are you doing outside of community service. - So at school, I'm in some call-ups like typology and at school community service, what I do is like those little drives that they hold it's like, oh, drop off some canned goods here. That's what I do. We're like Brazilian club, like I just attend the meetings but I realize that me, I like doing it out of school, I just think it's just, I don't know. It's like a way to like expand more as well. It's just like, I felt the need to just like create my own organization, like my own chapter here in plantation to also get others because sometimes at school, some clubs that can be very like, oh, like you'll get a better role if you're like friends with this person. I feel like an outside organization is just fair for everyone. And it's just like, yeah. I'd definitely agree with the part about how like sometimes at school, it's a little bit difficult to guarantee that you're going to play a significant role in making a difference through community service. I know that for me, when I was, I've been doing community service my whole life. And so I've been on like both ends of it where I've been a part of organizations at school and I still am and I love contributing in the best place I can, but it's also a lot more impactful feeling for me whenever I can start my own organization or work outside of school. And so I think that that's really cool that you acknowledge that too. So moving right along, what has been the biggest lesson you've learned about community service or through community service and what's something that you just kind of want to share and maybe a lesson that other people haven't learned yet? So for me, I think little acts can create such big impacts. So for example, cancer kids first, if you're going to write it because normally the goal is to bring positivity into cancer kids' lives because obviously it's a very difficult thing and it's hard to always be positive. So something as simple as writing a heartfelt message, something positive and giving it to them, it's just like something so simple, it can make someone's day so much better and that's what really makes people want to keep going. And especially me, I've interacted the summer, I went to a hospital and I like interacted with patients before and after surgery. And as simple as just making a joke or like be doing something nice, trying to help out, it can really help someone because it makes them feel more harder. I just, I think it's just, it's a really nice feeling just knowing that you can help someone by such like a small act of service. I definitely agree and I think for those of you that have been listening to this podcast for a little bit, if you remember on the episode I did with Angelica Ray, she talked about the same thing and how it's so easy about, like so easy to just say hi to somebody, you're so easy to do something that may seem so little to you but in their life it is making a huge impact. And so I applaud you for recognizing that because a lot of people think that, oh well, if I'm just doing something small, I might as well not do anything at all. And that's definitely not the way to go about things like this. So back to neuro insights. You are mainly, your platform is mainly focused, like mainly based on social media. So can you talk a little bit about maybe like a, like difficulties there are with promoting things on social media or maybe why it's important to people because I feel like a lot of people kind of dismiss social media and I think it's really important and I think it's a great way of spreading awareness. So I'd love it if you could just talk about that for a second. - Yeah, for sure. I mean, I started with neuro insights. It was going so great 'cause I had an account before the one that I have now and it just got banned and it was difficult because I tried reaching out to Instagram themselves. Nothing happened. It's a really great platform if you want to spread things because you can follow other mini organizations that help me, like it's like everyone's helping each other like grow, but after seeing my account getting banned, it was just like, it was difficult because I had to start from ground to the ground and back up and it was difficult and obviously stressful, but social media, it's a great way to spread because you could follow your friends and it's super simple as simple as like a little share, like people will just be seeing it. Like obviously I don't have to follow, but just for example, like I always repost my posts and just obviously if I'm going to be posting the person on the other side, it's going to be like, "Oh yeah, like Parkinson's, this is that." Like they'll be understanding, like you don't all of a second go into the account, follow like every single post, but it's just like, it's a good way to share information, but sometimes it's a little bit difficult to get your account back. - Yeah, and I actually think that that's really interesting that you said that because that's how I discovered neuroinsights and obviously like we have a bunch of mutual friends because we go to the same school and so obviously it was bound to show up at some point but it was because I was scrolling through and I saw people reposting neuroinsights that I was like, "Hey, what's this?" And I clicked on it and I discovered the account. And I think that that happens to so many people. I know that for me, I used to kind of not want to post on my professional account, just because like maybe I thought it was embarrassing or maybe I thought I wasn't making an impact. And then I posted a video about scholarships at some point, maybe like two years ago. And I posted a video about scholarships and it blew up and I got like 100 new followers from that. And it was because people were sharing and people were like, "Hey, look, I told you "that there were so many scholarships out here "in like Miss America and stuff like that." And so long story short, I've seen the impact on my accounts from sharing and spreading awareness and stuff. So I think that's cool that you've seen it too. Have you, so why do you think it's important to spread social media or to spread awareness on social media rather than just like kind of having an organization and not doing it anything with it? - I think social media is a platform that every teenager is on. And I mean, I feel like obviously when my accounts reach adults, but mainly like kids my age because, I mean if you start off by just clicking and being like, "Hey, maybe I'm interested in this." Like let me like research about it, see if I actually want to maybe do this when I grow up, you know? So like social media, it's a great way to share it as well as every single age is on there. You're mostly like teens obviously, but it's good for them to just already have a little like insight on like neurological diseases. - Yeah, I think that that's really cool. And I definitely agree that sometimes like, you know, exalts we can easily like show up to a business and ask for their support. And most likely you get positive feedback from talking to adults in person. But teenagers, it's a little bit hard to convey a message or spread awareness about something and doing it through something that everybody loves and everybody has, I think is a really smart strategy and something that I think is really great. And I'm glad that you've done because I know that it's made an impact on so many people. So with neuro insights, where do you see it in the future? Like do you have any future plans with it? Is it just kind of going to remain where it's at? - So what I'm trying to do is obviously I post every day, I hope to gain more of a following, hopefully let people join the account and also help out. And honestly, like I'm in the process of making it a website. So I'll see how that goes. But with neuro insights, I'm just trying to, 'cause as of right now, I already have a nonprofit and it was like this big deal to get it. So maybe in college, I'll maybe try to make it a nonprofit. But as of right now, it's like little passion projects, something small, but you know, people can donate stuff, donate to the websites that I have on the link. So yeah. - So speaking of donations, can you let everybody know who is listening or watching where they can support you and your community service as far as neuro insights goes? - So I mean, to donate stuff, at least for neuro insights, you can always like donate money to organizations like in the link for presenting like Michael J. Fox. Or for me right now, I have the cancer kids first. I'm gonna work with a club inside the school since I'm a junior and like can't make one. But there will be outside things. So like donating letters, maybe going to hospitals and just like talking to them and just like grinding their days up, you know? - Yeah. So definitely taking more of like a personal initiative and kind of just looking at neuro insights and saying, "Hey, this might be something I wanna do." And kind of just doing your research about it. I think is a really good way for people to go about supporting that initiative. So before we get into our next question about this and your service journey, I would like to tell everybody that I'm very excited to talk to Francesca again as well as her friend Ava. Because as she said, they have taught, they have started a nonprofit. And I'll let Francesca kind of talk about it right now, but we'll do a joint episode, which I'm really excited to do. And we'll do that a little bit later. And yeah, I just wanted to put that out there for anybody. Can you talk a little bit about what it is really quick? - Yeah, for sure. So Can't Give Kids First, it's, they have a huge organization already. So it's like, there's many chapters ever. So Alabama, we did one implantation and it's, we just helped bring positivity into kids that struggle with cancer. So we write letters, donate things, maybe host fundraisers like as simple as writing a letter just to write in someone's day up. So it's, we're still in the process of it, but you know, we have our officers figured out and hopefully throughout this year, we will have more more stuff done. - Yes, and I'm very excited. And I know that when you get like approved as a nonprofit, it's really exciting because then you can start granting service hours and that's definitely a motive or like incentive for other teams to volunteer. So I can't wait to watch it grow and watch you guys grow with it. So speaking of other teams, why do you think other teams should volunteer and like what advice do you have to other teams? - I think honestly volunteering, it's just a nice feeling because obviously you want to get service hours done for high school. But for me, that's how I started up. I was like, okay, let me get the service hours done, like whatever. But then I realized how it's like, it's such a rewarding feeling, realizing that you can help people like going to drives, donating things or just going to a hospital just to see how it is and see how patients are and to react with them. It's a rewarding feeling. And for like the people watching across the screen, don't just do it for hours because honestly, it can be such a, it can be a really nice feeling and you may end up even wanting to do it in the future. So for me, like I started volunteering and stuff like at the hospital and it made me realize that it's something that I want to do. Like I was obviously able to interact with patients and it was nice seeing that other people struggle too. It's sad to see, but we're so used to this reality where everything's like picture perfect. Like, oh, I'm here, I'm there. When you go to a hospital, you realize how wealthy you are, just even be walking. So it's a really rewarding feeling that when you get to talk to the patients and like get a little insight into their life. So yeah. - Yeah, and every person who listens, every single time I ask somebody, why other teams should volunteer? Because that's a question I ask everybody. Every single time we always talk about the service hours and it's, I will never stop talking about this because almost everybody I talk to starts community service just for the hours and then they get so passionate about it and see what's going on. And like you said, like we're completely, then you kind of disengage yourself from the reality you've been living in and kind of take a look at the real world. And like you said, it is rewarding to help other people. And I think that hearing so many positive stories about like going in for hours and staying because of the passion, I think that that's just really amazing. And I'm glad that you brought up that point once again. So we talked about like why other teams should volunteer. But on this podcast, I love to ask every single person, what is your why? We kind of like nowadays we lose track of our why and maybe we get so caught up in trying to do so much that we just forget about why we're doing it. So can you talk about what your why in community services? - Yeah, for me, mainly now I've been prioritizing my service hours more around like pre-med based, like volunteering at a hospital because it's something that I want to do. So not only am I getting volunteer experience, I'm also getting more of a passion for pre-med. So my why at first it was like, okay, like I want to get hours to get it done. And I'm like, okay, like this is fun volunteering. But recently I've spent most of the summer at Holy Cross Hospital volunteering, seeing patients and stuff. And it's just like, it's a nice feeling that it's good to start doing it at a young age because obviously what I want to do, it takes years and years and years to actually become like a doctor. So starting at a young age, it's nice to gain experience and stuff. So it was, I'm glad that I did what I did. - Yeah, I really like when you said that when you're young and you start to become passionate about it, then you just want to do more of it. And so by wanting to do more of it, then you work doing what you love and eventually you love your work. And I think that that's really amazing that you're letting a passion carry over into a possible job or a possible place in the workforce. And I think that that's great. And I think that that is such a good point to make. Thank you so much to everybody listening or watching. And I'll see you next time. [BLANK_AUDIO]