Service work reflection

 

• Share reflections on our in-class service work at the Wesley Food Pantry (Mar. 11 and Apr. 15) and the park clean-up (Apr. 29) or any other service work you've done this semester (DREAAM House activities, Booker T. Washington activities, contributing to bake sales, etc.). How have these experiences contributed to your understanding of community service? How might these experiences contribute to future community service you undertake?

I have thoroughly enjoyed all the in-class service learning activities we have done this semester. Although I unfortunately missed the YMCA field trip due to an urgent family trip, it was an overall enjoyable experience. My favorite service work we have done was the first time we volunteered at the Wesley Food Pantry. I liked packing canned and bagged goods for those who need them most, and learning about the organization as a whole was very eye-opening. The Scott Park cleanup was also a fun job to do. I was surprised to see the amount of small pieces of garbage that I found in the park, and the area around the boneyard creek was polluted with several large cans and cardboard boxes. The park cleanup is something I would like to do in the future, I find cleaning the community is needed and appreciated even though you might not get an immediate response to your work, the satisfaction of having made a space in your community cleaner as well as safer, is always a great feeling. Overall this experience has taught me that there is a lot I can do to help my community and the people in it. Since I have taken this class my interest in community service has increased greatly, I now feel a desire to help people as much as possible. I have since started attending Sprabitat Club meetings, where one opportunity we had was to work with young kids from the DREAAM House after school program, and that experience was great. I have a job with the Champaign Park District as a camp counselor which will allow me to help mentor kids from the community. It isn't necessarily considered service work but it is a chance to give back to the youth. In the future I plan to be more active with community service work that is available. Obviously there is some work that can be done by myself like cleaning up a local park or highway. However there are certain organizations that can use extra help like the Wesley Food Pantry. Thanks to this class and the lessons we have learned in our community service work, I am now more enthusiastic to helping the community and those in need.