Final Integration Paper
Based on my community service project and my participation in this particular class, I feel that I have a better understanding of my social responsibility. Although I have volunteered on several occasions, it was not until I served at the local food bank, that I have a better understanding. I feel as though I have an obligation to serve my community because after all, homelessness can happen to anyone at any part of their lives. Volunteering at the local food bank, gave me a better understanding of peoples struggles and also helped me to not be too quick to judge when it comes to seeing people live out on the streets. I no longer have the mindset that people living out on the streets chose that life nor are they drug/alcohol
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As I write this portion of my essay, I cannot help but mention a father whom I had the pleasure of meeting. His name is Fernando and at one point in his life, he lived in an up-scaled part of Covina, with his wife and son. He owned and operated his own company, and things for his family were great. Fast forward a few years later and Fernando lost his business, went through a divorce and was on the verge of losing custody of his only son. He told me, no matter what it took; he was not going to lose his son. He and his wife went through a rough divorce and eventually he won custody of his son. He won custody but it was not at a cheap price. Because of all of the court fees and attorney fees, this is what eventually led him to homelessness. He was now living out of his vehicle. When talking to him, he was a regular, normal hard working individual, whom I would have never guessed was homeless. His story really hit me when he told me that although he was going through tough times, he was not going to let his son suffer. He slept in his car time and time again, but got up every morning to shower, look presentable and went to pick up his son to take him to school. I thought to myself, what an incredible person, to make such sacrifices in order to make sure his son’s life was not affected in a negative way. I also learned while …show more content…
Another individual whom I had the pleasure of meeting was Juliann. She is the main person in charge of running the show. She is the one that showed me the ins and out of how this place worked. And once she did I was able to jump right in and help out. I never knew just how much hard work goes into feeding the community. I started off by dividing up the food that came off the delivery trucks, I then went to scan the food to make sure the food was fresh and able to be handed out to the families. After that we would package the foods for the Tuesday pick-ups. Each Tuesday, the families would line up and we would give them bags of groceries that would hopefully last them a few weeks. The faces on these families were priceless; the look they gave was one that was unforgettable. You can truly tell that they really appreciate everything that was offered to them. Once the Tuesday pickups were completed, we would then store all of the left-over food and plan for the next trucks deliveries. While completing this process, I often found myself asking, “Why aren’t we able to serve more food, nor are we able to allow more families to come and gather food?” It was not until Juliann explained to me that all of the food they receive are either left overs, food that has lost its shelf life at local grocery stores and other donations that the local stores may drop off. So in essence, if the
Over the last 17 years the number of families actively been served has fluctuated. As of right now, they are serving around 300 families per month. Each month, families are given approximately $100 worth of groceries. A member of each household arrives on either Monday or Friday to pick up their food box. Each week the food box contains bread, dairy, produce and pantry items. The future of Least of the Brethren is looking very bright. Later this month the pantry will be operating their Mobile Market. The Mobile Market is fairly new but has received great feedback. Volunteers will line food up outside the pantry and those in need will simply pull up, each vehicle is then load with an abundance of food. This is the only time families receive more than their monthly allotment of
The way River City Food Bank works is that they open to the public from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm. They provide many services for single and multiple families. Anyone who lives in Sacramento and reports that they or their dependents are living at or below the federal poverty line are eligible to receive these benefits. This site relies on the help of volunteers from around the Sacramento area. The day I went to River City Food Bank, there were twenty volunteers on this site ready to help and assist. My role was
My community service experience at All Souls Friday Soup Kitchen taught me the impoverished population of New York City and myself. The volunteer work pushed me to better myself in several areas. Serving the diners helped me expand my social skills with fellow workers and customers by forcing me to communicate with others. Also, setting up and deconstructing the dining room helped grow my management skills by having me order where the plates, mugs, etc. should be placed. Most importantly, working at the kitchen helped humanize the poor population of New York City for me. Often on the subway and on the sidewalk, I try my hardest to avoid the homeless man or woman begging for money, acting like they didn’t exist. Gratefully, my experience at
From day one my mom taught me that you will get more satisfaction giving to and helping others than you ever will by just doing things for yourself. I truly believe this. Volunteering to teach swimming lessons, organizing recycled items, and visiting the nursing home are all things I have been involved in and doing each of those I have learned more and more about how important service is. Just recently my classmates and I helped an elderly woman move all of her belongings out of her home and into the 4H building for an auction. The 4H building is on the fairgrounds where I have volunteered to clean up every spring for the last 3 years. Service is very important but also very rewarding. I look toward to doing more service projects in the
My father was born into a poor family in Jacksonville, Florida. During his childhood, his parents didn’t treat him the way most parents treat my dad the way children are supposed to be treated. One day while standing in the lunch line he was pulled out of the line because he owed so much money and was given bread and water as his meal.
Two years ago, I was sitting in a dimly lit packing room, wedged between a stalled out pale yellow refrigerator and a stack of boxes, packed to the brim with all sorts of canned fruits and vegetables. People worked quickly here, moving boxes from one corner of the room to another, creating a rhythm of sorts. Thump. Swoosh. Thump. Swoosh. The boxes left in droves as lines of people congregated around the open warehouse door with open hands ready to accept what was offered while statements of gratitude leapt from their tongues. The amount of people waiting outside far outnumbered the volunteers, but the volunteers worked hard, they knew they had to today. It was 104 degrees outside and some of these people standing in line, with children in tow, had been waiting for hours. It was distribution day at the South Texas Food Bank and I was there to help.
‘FoodSHARE’ is a cooperative of multiple faith-based churches and businesses partnering together, in which the items are organized and hand delivered. Over 100 tons of food and much-needed supplies were distributed to those in need. As well as organizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers over the course of 7+ years Michelle, along with her core team of 8 senior volunteers, made regular visits to under-resourced children and their families…in their homes. Today ‘FoodSHARE’ collects canned goods and other sundry items to be donated to local Food Banks throughout South Florida and
Service in the school and community is an insight to your character and work ethic. I have over 20 hours of community service from many different experiences. Last summer I worked for Camp Barakel, a summer camp, in the kitchen. I assisted in serving food and cleaning. I learned discipline and teamwork through this valuable experience. Not only this I’ve worked with the Elderly in Rehabilitation centers and the patience and nurturing qualities is something that will forever be valuable in my life. Last but not least working as Big Sister or Buddy to a 4th grade girl has given me the chance to positively impact and influence her life as simply as having a friend is immense. All of these service opportunities as added to my character and prepared me for the responsibilities of
As surprising as it may sound, I have been doing community service since the sixth grade and it is a new experience each time. It all began with a community clean up known as 'Keep McAllen Beautiful' as we got there everyone seemed excited to be there. It was beautiful to see such unity inside of my community, and I decided from then on that I would like continue helping out where it is needed. As I joined the National Honor Society my chances of providing my services increased, and I decided that I would assume a position of leadership when needed. I became the society's president, which allowed me to develop my time management skills, creativity, and efficiency. I organized an fundraiser for the hurricane Harvey disaster victims where all
Harvest Hope’s mission consists of, “Providing for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food. With dignity, compassion, and education (Harvest Hope Food Bank, 2015).” Based on their mission, I was easily motivated to treat all clients with the same dignity, compassion, and respect I would want in receiving services. For example, bread in the bread bins often grows mold on certain sections. I would try and find another pack because I understood the client would appreciate my consideration. Staffing on a daily basis consists of a number of volunteers who help Harvest Hope run smoothly. Food distributed included vegetables, canned drinks, canned goods, fruits, and dairy products. The amount of donated items a family receives is
While being a good, law abiding citizen, is the first step to social responsibility, a really crucial part is being involved and doing your part. The article, “Individual Rights and Community Responsibilities, written by Pat Nanzer, informs that, “History records voluntary actions by private citizens working together to right injustices, change directions and pursue benefits for the common good. This list includes the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement. In every case, people voluntarily came together with a shared sense of purpose for the common good.” This shows that volunteer work, when done as a community, can really change things and make a big impact.
At a young age I discovered a passion for helping others and I have continued to be passionate about serving my community since then. At the age of eight years old I began the first year of what would soon be my ten year membership of 4-H. Through that program and my church’s youth group I truly began to understand what selfless service was all about. I first began helping others by walking dogs at the local shelter and helping my 4-H club clean the sides of the highways. I later was able to experience several mission trips that opened my eyes to the larger aspect of service. My love for helping people continued to grow as I got older and I continued to find ways to make a difference. One of my favorite experiences was getting to help cook and serve a meal at a homeless
As a second year National Honor Society student, the last couple of years I have been more focused on ways I can help my community to help get all my service hours in for the end of my high school NHS career. I’ve always loved doing little things to help someone who needs it but I never thought about the things that I do everyday count just as much as the other things. Community service to me, is more than just holding the door open for someone, picking up trash, or helping someone with their groceries. I want to help people grow and be a better person while serving my community. I want to do more than volunteer, I want to impact the lives of people and I feel that is what I have done.
I have been a part of different activities for my community service. I have helped the TLC preschool afterschool with cleaning tables and toys once all the children have gone home. I have also been to the shelly baird school where they disabled kids go for schooling and helped out there with the students doing their work and played games .I am currently in “Dude Be Nice Club” and recently we participated in project night night where we would gather donated security blankets a book or stuffed animal and deliver them to children who have very little in homeless shelters. My community service in this case helped me realize that there are people out there who need some encouragement to help them get back on their feet and realize in life that
On the other hand we have volunteering, volunteering is the act of community service. Now the difference between the two is through service learning ones able to gain more knowledge of their community, and allows opportunity to reflect on how to improve the situation addressed. The service I provided was not only helping the non-profit Cub Scouts organization raise funds, but I was also giving back to the community with the Cub Scouts. We did so by washing citizens cars that came to donate to the Cub Scouts, doing this we addressed the issue of civic responsibility and provided a service for a small donation. I consider this service learning because I was able to apply what I have learned about sociology to encourage a positive outcome for the organization and the community through civic responsibility. I also benefitted with further knowledge to help better my communication skills, leadership, and civic responsibility. By doing this I have learned different ways to give back to my community and how to address civic responsibility among the community. Because of this experience I am continuing my service to the Cub Scouts Pact 328, and I will be applying to volunteer at a local hospital when I move to Lawrence, Kansas this