Valencia High School students with the Valencia High DECA Program are working on bringing awareness to the community about Santa Clarita’s homeless population.

Shani Tyson, an officer for the program, and Kristen Beckwith, a co-manager for the group, are both students at Valencia High School, putting close to 40 hours a week into helping the homeless, on top of their schoolwork.

“DECA is an NGO that is dedicated to enhancing student’s business knowledge and preparing students for the future in ways that are educational and also provide opportunities for students to grow in networking relationships,” said Beckwith.

This year’s project is to inform the Santa Clarita Valley about the Bridge To Home homeless shelter and to help them provide for the homeless population in the community, said Beckwith.

“We are looking for financial help from the community,” said Beckwith. “We made an Amazon wish list that can be found on the Bridge To Home website and on our website. Some of the items we are hoping to receive from the community are blankets, T-shirts and hand sanitizer.”

In years past, Beckwith and Tyson have gone to the homeless shelter to provide food for the homeless.

“Last year, we did a food drive, and in one week at the high school we collected close to 600 canned food items to donate to the Bridge to Home shelter,” said Tyson.

Related: Valencia High Students Dominate Deca Mini Competition Last Weekend

Tyson and Beckwith also did something called the minimal use challenge.

The students would give up different things each week for the month of November, so they could have a taste of what a homeless person goes through all the time.

“We gave up things like: no TV or electronic devices for a week, another week we would only wear one pair of shoes for a week and another week we would only wear three different outfits,” said Tyson.

“Just giving up these small luxuries, it was extremely difficult, and I couldn’t imagine not having other things that I do that homeless people don’t,” said Tyson.

Around Christmas, the two students made 120 peppermint bars and attached an informational tag to the bars with the program’s website, linking people to the Amazon wish list, and gave 60 of them to the Bridge to Home homeless shelter.

Tyson and Beckwith each took 30 of the remaining bars to give out to people around the community to help spread the word around town.       

“We don’t get any school credits for doing these projects,” said Beckwith. “I am just very emotionally attached to this program and want to continue to help where I can.”

The members of the program also go to different junior high schools to promote their club by talking to the students and to try to convince them to join the program once they enter high school.

If residents purchase items from the Amazon wish List, purchases will be sent to Beckwith’s address, and she will bring the donations to Bridge to Home.

“We want them to come to us so we can monitor what has been donated to them through our project,” concluded Beckwith.

For more information about past projects the DECA Program has done or to see the Amazon wish list click here.

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