I have consistently been going to Key Club every week, and I am determined to find time to do some of the weekend community service work as opportunities present themselves in the future. So far I have not been able to attend many due to a packed schedule, with other CAS activities over the weekend (such as bowling) and work, however I did trick or treat for UNICEF for Halloween and this week, I helped to coordinate a food drive for Thanksgiving. It is by the Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands, and it is where food items such as canned goods, frozen turkey, or a gift card for $25 can be brought in as a substitute for the frozen turkey.
My job was essentially to spread the word to the different advisories and encourage them to participate. On Tuesday during advisory, I went to each advisory and checked to see who was participating and to encourage advisors to participate, and I made a list so that today, I could go from room to room and remind the advisories that said they were participating that on Friday, canned items can be brought in and on Monday, any perishable items can be brought in no later than noon. I made that much clear, and I also said that items were to be brought into the supply closet near the front office by Monday, but they could also be brought in on Friday. I went and talked to Ms. Carman after I did this, she asked me if I told the advisors that their advisory's collection of food items needed to be placed in a box specifically for their advisory's items before being brought to the supply closet. I forgot to do this, and I had 5 minutes before class was to begin and advisory to end. In a flash I ran to each advisory a second time and checked to see that each had their own box or bag so that their items could be kept separate and not mixed in with other advisories' items, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was already taken care of.
I learned something very important today. READ THE HANDOUTS I AM GIVEN VERY CAREFULLY before spreading the word. Of course, I did not pass on any inaccurate information but because I was in such a rush because of the time constraint of advisory, and the fact that some advisors kept me longer to ask questions so I could clarify, I was in a rush and forgot to mention about the boxes. Next time I volunteer to help plan something important, I will make sure I am 100% informed before I attempt to spread the word, to prevent any confusion for the people I introduce ideas to, and to save myself time so I don't have to explain more than once or go back and add in points that I forgot to mention the first time. It was a careless mistake on my part but luckily this time, my mistake didn't have any impact on any of the advisors or the good work their advisories have done - there were A LOT of people participating and items have already been brought in. I will just make sure that I read the handouts more carefully in the future, to increase my own understanding of the event in question so that I can pass on accurate information to others.
One of my learning objectives is #5, which is to maintain commitment to the activity. I have been trying my best to do this with Key Club, which is difficult at times because often times on Monday, I'd MUCH rather go out to lunch than go to a Key Club meeting, but I have not missed one meeting yet and I don't plan to. I have a busy weekend schedule and I cannot always participate in weekend activities, but I make sure I do as much as I can during the school week which is why I volunteered to help with the food drive. I wanted to make sure that I'm not a useless Key Club member and that if there's any way I can help, I will. I will try in the future to find a way to fit the weekend activities into my schedule, which is difficult, but it will help me in the end in terms of how I prioritize and can fit a lot into my day to day schedule. Learning objective #6, which is to engage in issues of global importance, is carried out here because the food drive is helping the less fortunate, and I want to do as much as I can to help those less fortunate. I take for granted all I have and I feel that I should be more sympathetic toward those in need, and what way is better to do that than to help them as much as I can?
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