April Update

April Service Hours: 10

Cumulative Semester Hours: 52

And just like that, that's a wrap. The program has been such a positive experience, and while I’ll definitely miss my classmates, a break from the classroom is very welcome. I learned so much, and I hope to carry it forward with me.

I continued my community service this month with a few different projects. As BMS rep, I organized a spring semester service project where we put together 100 hygiene kits and dropped them off at Ozanam Inn. It was simple --some of us just stayed after class to assemble everything, but it felt like a good reminder that service doesn’t always require a ton of complex strategy to make an impact. Service can take a lot of different forms - you just have to think about who you are trying to meet. When I dropped them off, the people at Oz were incredibly kind and grateful. I’ve volunteered with them before through Freestanding Communities, so it was nice to work with them in a different way. It was nice having the class participate in both projects I organized this year. I am grateful for the learning environment that everyone created. 

I also continued to provide meals for the community fridges. As we move into the summer, the need always increases, especially with kids out of school. Usually, during these months, I try to focus a little more on things like breakfast items, since that’s something many kids would normally have access to during the school year. 

I have been in New Orleans since 2010, and I’ve tried to make service part of what it means for me to live in a city that I care so much about. I think this part of the program does a great job of getting people engaged with communities that don’t always get a fair shake. I’m glad I’ve been able to continue my work with the fridges, Ozanam Inn, and some of the initiatives I’m involved in back home in Indiana. I've been volunteering for some of these organizations for a long time, so the blogs have been a nice way to reflect on why service matters to me and what it actually looks like in practice.

Cheers to a great year, and to what is ahead! 



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