Of course, while the main focus of this incredible trip was to volunteer and spend our time with the lovely nonprofits we had the opportunity to work with, we also were able to spend the evenings exploring this West Coast City!

Stay tuned for fun group pictures we were able to take!

Many of us hadn't been to the West Coast before. This trip was a wonderful bonding experience!

Thank you again for your donations. We have until April 30th to come up with the rest of the expenses, and we're grateful for every penny!

Our trip was an absolute success, and we want to thank everyone who has already helped us with funding. As we continue our fundraising, we'd like to share our San Francisco story!

For our AnBryce Community Service Trip we spent 8 days in San Francisco, starting on Thursday, January 17th. Scholars came from all over the United States on different planes to meet up and share this experience.

We all stayed at the HI San Francisco City Center, a hostel located in the Tenderloin of San Francisco - meaning we stayed away from the infamously expensive areas of the city in order to reduce cost and ensure that we were not completely separating ourselves from the populations we would be aiding. In fact, we were less than 5 minutes away from one of the organizations we volunteered at for the week: Project Open Hand.

Project Open Hand turned out to be a fantastic experience. Each day we came to the kitchen or warehouse and prepared fresh produce, meats, and perishables that would eventually be distributed to vulnerable populations.

This organization was impressively organized; from the first day, they were ready to put us to work, as they should!

The other organization we had the pleasure of volunteering at was the San Francisco Food Bank. Although quite the trek from the hostel, this non-profit was strategically placed in an area where they had lots of land to compensate for the thousands of pounds of food that came in every single day.

Another well-organized group, the San Francisco Food Bank representatives were excited to have us join the many other volunteers in the warehouse.

We'd like to just express how important this sort of work is, because while changing policies and legislation is truly the key to seeing long-term change within poor and disadvantaged communities, ensuring that these people get some form of short-term support is not something to neglect.

For many of us, this was our first time in San Francisco, and for some, the West Coast. We took advantage of some of our free time to explore the city together and enjoy the mild weather while we can. We hiked Land's End to view the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, ate at a restaurant in Chinatown, and enjoyed a long boat ride through the windy waters to watch the city skyline. Experiencing this fascinating city with friends will be unforgettable.

As a group of first-generation college students who have the privilege of attending an elite university, let alone a college in general, we want to say thank you to those who have donated to our cause. We are continuing our fundraising efforts in order to effectively pay for this trip, and hopefully conduct another one.

As for now, we do encourage everyone to make time to help their own communities. After all, you don't need to travel across the country to help those in need.

Many thanks, and more to come!