South SF student group founds project to help abuse survivors heal
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Students in Action, a sister program of the Jefferson Awards, trains students in about two dozen Bay Area high school students with leadership skills.
One student team in South San Francisco has earned recognition for the service project it developed as part of the program.
Abigail Verino and other student leaders got together at El Camino High School to brainstorm a project during the height of the #MeToo movement three years ago.
She described how the team heard from alumni and students who said they had survived abuse.
"We were very heartbroken and ultimately, we were at a loss for words," Verino said. "But through this anger, we wanted to form some kind of healing out of it."
With the support of their Students in Action advisor, Verino co-led a team of 14 students to create STOP, which stands for Student Trauma Open Platform. It provides people a place for healing, empowerment, education and prevention.
"When we say sexual violence or sexual abuse, people tend to turn a blind eye or 'I'm not really interested,'" Verino said. But the SIA team wanted to change that.
The student-led team organized workshops, school assemblies, rallies, and counseling. The team reached about a half dozen schools and more than a thousand students in the Bay Area and out of state.
They also partnered with Rape Trauma Services and South San Francisco Police.
"So the impact we want to see -- or that we are able to see -- is a lot of people wanting to engage more on this topic," Verino explained.
Now in its third year, STOP recently received recognition from its parent foundation, Multiplying Good, at its national celebration of service.
The El Camino SIA team was honored with an Impact Warrior Award from the Golden State Warriors, and a shoutout at a San Francisco Giants game.
And in the end, Verino -- now a UC Berkeley student -- discovered firsthand the power of service.
"To me, that was the biggest thing for our team; to be able to touch lives and touch other people's hearts," she said.
She and members of her team learned that one person can make a difference. In fact, the current SIA team at El Camino is working on expanding the program to other cities in San Mateo County.
Both Students in Action and Jefferson Awards come under the umbrella of Multiplying Good.
The foundation recently held its national medal ceremony in New York City, and one of our local winners was honored with the national Jefferson Award.
Delfarib Fanaie founded Moms Against Poverty with a group of friends in 2008. She received the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Extraordinary Service to Local Communities.
"I truly cannot even believe I'm being acknowledged for something I love to do," she said In a speech that evening.
Fanaie's Burlingame-based nonprofit has served more than two million people -- mostly children -- in 16 countries to break the cycle of poverty.
