Other Questions
How can you educate or raise awareness about this group or social issues?
During the SERVE weekend retreat, I had the opportunity to volunteer at Plenty Farms in Floyd, Virginia. Plenty Farms is a self-sustained community farm and food pantry. They are heavily ran off of donations from local farmers, organizations, and the community. A great way to raise awareness is to do a simple food drive for Plenty. The food bank is always in need of items and a food drive would be an easy way for people to learn more about the organization while helping it out. Another great way to raise awareness and educate people would be going to local schools, clubs, or organizations that have a focus on community service and telling them what Plenty is and how they could help. There are lots of service opportunities through Plenty for people of all ages to get involved and help.
Do you see benefits of doing community work? Why or why not?
I see nothing but benefits in doing community work. It is almost impossible, with the exception of a few rare circumstances, that something bad would come out of doing community work. The sole purpose to me of community service is giving your time and effort to a better cause other than yourself. So often in life, we get caught up in our busy lives and don’t take a second to stop and think about other people. We focus on ourselves and don’t even realize what is going on around us. The benefits of community work are far greater than any costs. Doing community work means you get to help needy people and I believe there is not much better than that.
What institutional structures are in place at your site or in the community? How do they effect the people you work with?
In my hometown, the most influential structure on me is my church Highlands Fellowship. It has grown to be a church with over 4,000 in attendance and 6 campuses and is now a huge part of my community. To me it is not just a church, it’s a group of people who want to love on others and have fun all in the name of God. There are numerous outreach and service events that the church puts on and I love to volunteer and be a part of as many as possible. Everyone I am around at these events and those I am serving alongside, have the biggest smiles and hearts full of joy.
At my community here at Virginia Tech, a large institutional structure that I am involved with is VT Engage. They strive to bring together people of all kinds and backgrounds to create partnerships and bonds through service, learning and reflection. VT Engage is for students, communities, and faculty. One of their main goals is to encourage the university’s motto of Ut Prosim. A lot of what SERVE does is led and influenced by the VT Engage program.
What did you do that seemed effective or ineffective in the community?
The volunteer opportunity that had the greatest impact on me was getting to package dog and cat food at the food pantry part of Plenty Farms. It really helped put my service into perspective. One of the main leaders at Plenty explained the project to us before we began. She said that they take bags of dog and cat food to the places that they deliver food and allow the people to take what they need for their pets. One reason why it was impactful to me was because I feel like pets get overlooked a lot in these kinds of situations. I loved that the organization thought just as much about the pets as they did the people. The main reason it was so impactful was because the leader told us that a husband and wife spend their entire Sunday doing what 15 of us volunteers were able to do in half an hour. It was such a good feeling knowing that we alleviated a Sunday of hard work for the couple and really showed me how much of an impact volunteering can have on people.
What are the most difficult or satisfying parts of your work? Why?
The most satisfying part of volunteering for me is seeing the smiles of gratitude and happiness on the faces of the people I served. To me, that is why I serve. To feel like I had an impact on someone’s life. To feel like I am making a difference. Serving is such a fulfilling experience knowing that I did not waste my time on something useless and meaningless, but on something that people will forever be thankful for. It is a feeling that almost nothing else in the world can bring.
How are your values expressed through your community work?
Serving is one of the things that I am most passionate about because it directly lines up with who I am. My faith is the biggest and most important part of me. Serving is a huge part of the Christian faith and I believe that it is a responsibility as a Christian to serve God and other people. To me, it is not just a responsibility. It is a part of who I am. My community work varies in the extent and degree- volunteering at a food bank, babysitting, the tech crew at church, running concession stands. I love learning about new things and social issues and places and I feel like that is evident in my service. My favorite service activity though is volunteering at my church because I believe it has made me who I am today and I love to give back to the church and to God.
Because of service learning, I am…
… learning to become a better person. I do my best to love and respect every single person no matter what they have done or what their situation is. That can be hard though sometimes but I feel like serving is my way of humbling myself and making sure I know that I am not better than anyone else. I understand that I am blessed and don’t deserve what I have, but I wholeheartedly believe that everyone is equal. We all struggle with things in life, it’s just that some people’s struggles and hardships are different than others. Through service learning I hope to learn to love deeper, serve in a more meaningful way, connect with others who I would know how to on my own, and step out of my comfort zone.