Reflection Day 2-Maddie Culberson

Today's Service learning was very successful. We were able to help our community by handing out food to those in need.  We helped to package and serve food to those in need. I did not know what to expect upon arriving to SOS, but I was able to enjoy the work that we did to give back to our community. Ultimately, I feel we were able to accomplish our goal for the day and help and provide for your community.

Conner Ascher Day 2 Reflection

Working at S.O.S. for the first time really opened my eyes to the impoverished community around us. For my first task I prepared food and divided it into reasonable amounts for each family. It was awesome because I was able to see where the results were going as we handed out food to each person.It was also cool because we got to meet other volunteers who were all really excited about helping others, which provided a comfortable working environment. It was tiring but, in the end it was worth it.

Day 2 Reflection Allison Blanning

After being reassigned to the SOS group for my second Service Learning day, I was really excited to be helping low income people and their families from communities right in Orange County. We arrived and met the volunteer coordinator, who gave us a tour of the facilities that SOS has to offer and gave us some brief volunteer training regarding confidentially and attitude. Initially, I was really apprehensive as our group walked through the room where people waited to be called up to receive boxes of food, financial counseling, or medical care. Robbe and I were soon put to work making copies of flyers highlighting various services for the homeless and low income families. After quickly finishing that task, we cut and placed stickers on vouchers that would be given to families and individuals who wished to have a hot meal on Thanksgiving. After a while, the cutting and labeling did get to be a bit monotonous but I felt really happy that my work was helping someone in need. What impressed me the most about my first day at SOS was how this organization has made such good use of such a small space. The facilities aren't very big, but they have managed to fit a food warehouse, kitchen, and medical and dental clinic in one lot. It really shows that even small facilities can really go a long way in terms of helping someone in need. 

Day 2 Reflections- Robbe Simon

Since it was my first day of working at Share Our Selves, I admit that I was a bit nervous. Based on my preliminary research that S.O.S was a pretty large organization that helped the homeless and working poor of Orange County by providing food, educational opportunities, child care dental care, and medical benefits. Upon arriving at S.O.S, we were greeted by Ms. Larson, who prepped us on the rules and workings of the facility, gave us a tour of the facility, and divided us up into different roles. I was chosen to complete secretarial work (copying forms etc.) along with Allison. Our job was to do anything that our S.O.S staff member (veronica) felt needed to be completed. We therefore began by copying financial and social aid forms for those who needed ideas for job opportunities among other things. Ms Larson informed us that one particular form listed a number of job opportunities in the area that hired ex-felons. I had never previously thought on the life of felons after their time in jail, and it was eye opening to realize the difficulties these people must face. For our next project, Allison and I worked on the sign up forms for families seeking Thanksgiving food bags. It was interesting to see how organized S.O.S was in distributing Thanksgiving food bags. Apparently a staff member that had worked in the facility previously was a rocket scientist who was quiet adept in designing plans of the sort. Each form was color coded by day of the week as well as time of day, and asked for the names and other information about the family seeking a Thanksgiving basket. This method allowed only a certain amount of people to seek baskets at a given time, minimizing the need for people to wait around. Although I learned new things from my experience today (working a copying machine) I hope in our next service learning day I will have the chance to connect personally with some of the people seeking food bags. RS

Post of October 27 (Day 2)

1.        Summarize your progress thus far on your Service Learning Project.  After looking at your original goals, have they changed?  If so, please elaborate.

Thus far, we have packaged food (today we packaged frozen fish), helped the S.O.S staff by making copies of handouts that provide information for those in need, and finally handed out food packages that were designed to supplement both the homeless and the families of the working poor. Our goal of creating a lasting bond between Sage Hill School and S.O.S has not changed, and we were successful in strengthening our connection with hard work today.  

2.        Describe some of the achievements/obstacles your group has encountered today/over the past month. 

The first obstacle our group faced was getting used to both the workings and the members of S.O.S. We were able to surmount this obstacle quite easily because the staff was helpful and allowed us to at ease. Another obstacle we faced was the language barrier when dealing with some of the clients. We hope that working at S.O.S wil allow us to appreciate cultural diversity as well as refine our spanish-speaking skills.

3.        How valuable has the feedback been from your Service Learning Panel?  Have the commendations/critiques been helpful?

Our group is comprised of members whose original proposals differed from S.O.S; therefore, we have not been in direct contact with the panel, but have been helped every step of the way by Mr. Gregory.

4.        What are your plans for the next Service Learning Day?  How do you plan to execute those plans?

We plan on visiting our SOS location and fulilling what is asked of us. Whether it is packaging food, serving the homeless and working poor, or doing something as small as copying social aid forms, we will be fully dedicated to our work.

5.        Post something that has been particularly meaningful to your group over the past month.  It could be a collage of pictures/short personal anecdote/short video/etc.

Service Learning Proposal

1. Ford Hanour, Conner Ascher, Allison Blanning, Nickie Shojaee, Maddie Culberson, Robbe Simon.
2. We are interested in helping the homeless and working poor have access to living essentials, specifically foods. We wish to work with an organization known as Share Ourselves, which provides underpriveledged citizens with medical care, childcare, supplemental food bags, and even legal help. We will be primarily focusing on providing food by helping with the bagging and distribution of donated foods to the clients of SOS.
3. We are affiliated with an organization known as Share Ourselves. "Founded in 1970 by a group of concerned individuals, primarily members of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, Share Our Selves (SOS) has grown to become a model nonprofit organization providing the highest quality comprehensive safety net services to the homeless and low-income populations in Orange County." -www.shareourselves.org/about/
4. The needes that will be addressed are helping underprivleged citizens of Orange County have access to food, shelter, resources for jobs, and educational opportunities. Efforts to help the clients of SOS gain access to living essentials are vital because the state of the economy has rendered many people unable to access such goods.
5. There are a number of ways we can help SOS, specfically by doing office work and packaging food.
6. We hope to strengthen our connection to the organization.
7. Every Service Learning date, we will be assigned specific jobs such as working in the kitchen and doing secretarial work.
8. We will measure success by creating deeper connections between the Sage community and SOS.