Conner Ascher: Day 5

Today was our last day working at SOS. And it was one of the hardest. There was no office work to be done today so everyone was working in the kitchen. We started by packaging cake and doughnuts and then we spent the rest of the time packaging tomatoes, potatoes, and apples. It has been a good year working at SOS and now its coming to an end. Now the only thing left for us to do is to prepare for the presentation on March 30th.

FORD HANOUR'S AWESOME BLOG DAY 5

Today, I started off by bagging donuts and pastries into bags containing 3 pastries. Next, We moved on to bagging apples and other produce. It was somewhat of a slow day due to the fact that SOS did not have too much food for us to work with. While waiting for more produce to arrive, I realized how much our Service Learning group has bonded. At the beginning of the year, our group was somewhat disconnected because our original Service Learning plans had fallen apar; however, by the end of this year, I felt like I had grown much closer with the 7 other people at SOS. Overall, I loved being able to see where my hard work was going, rather than doing work and not seeing where it goes.

Final Service Learning Post Allison Blanning

Today was my group's final day of service learning. When we first arrived at the shelter, the other volunteers told us that they didn't have a lot of work for us to do. This quickly changed, as shipments of donated foods kept pouring in. For the first time, we had the entire group working on the same project at the same time. We created an assembly line that helped get the food packaged more quickly. Some people ripped bags that the food would eventually go into, some kept the food boxes restocked, and others delivered the food to the distribution room. We got a huge amount of work done in a relatively short span of time. The work quickly grew to be exhausting because we would think that we had done everything that there was to do when more food was delivered and needed to be sorted and packaged. The other volunteer groups that volunteer at the same time as us had left and we were still working, up until our usual time of 12:30. Although the work packaging food was rewarding, I personally wish that I could have spent my last service learning filling specific orders for families and giving them out to the needy. When I worked at the front lines,  I could see the tangible effect my work was having on other people's lives. Overall, I think our service learning group has learned a lot through our hard work at SOS. We have seen that our brief volunteering jobs that happen only once a month can really make a difference in the lives of struggling Orange County residents.

Robbe Simon Reflections Day 5

Today, I helped SOS out with office work rather than sorting or packing groceries. The day began as usual when we left Sage at 8:30 and proceeded to the SOS facility. Once there, I was asked to work in the office alongside Ford Hanour and Leo Kim. Our work consisted of cutting out small, rectangular pieces of paper, folding them in half, and stapling the ends together. The pieces of paper were to be used for clients to write their names and sign up for aid. Although the work seemed monotonous and I wanted to actually interact with the clients more, I was still helping SOS, and was therefore content with the job. However, it was the slow day, and the staff members of SOS kept running out of jobs to give us. I was slightly surpirsed at the lack of planning on the part of SOS, who usually supplied us with work that was much more time consuming. I was later informed that the economically diffcult times detered many clients who did not have the means of traveling to SOS. Therefore, although it was not the most difficult day of work, I was still able to reflect on the conditions critically on the conditions of the SOS clients.

Nickie Shojaee day 4

This time at Share Our Selves I, again, opted to work in the back bagging various fruits, vegetables, and breads. This last time we went there it was not as busy as it usually is and so there was not as much work to be done. None the less, we still got through sorting out onions, potatoes, breads, oranges, etc. and put them into small bags that were ready for the others to put them into the other larger backs and hand them out. Afterwards, since we finished the bagging early we went into a different part of SOS and helped make copies for the flyers that people took and also the flyers on each of the desks. Even though this seems like a simple task, I realized that by helping supply the copies of each of the flyers we were almost making sure the people that needed the information on each of the different flyers were in fact getting the information that could very well alter their lives. This showed me yet another example of how SOS helps people and how we are in fact doing a lot to help as well.

Nickie Shojaee day 3

At our third visit we spent most of our time bagging different breads, fruits and vegetables together to be put into larger bags to be given out to the people that came in. This was a nice and different experience than the previous time we were at SOS because the first time we put the foods in the bigger bags and saw the people that would come in and get the food and it was a bit of a more personal level, but this time, we were able to kind of see the behind the scene things that take place. This was a nice job I thought because we constantly kept busy and it felt like we got a lot done, we even had to start packaging clothes because we had finessed all the foods. I liked doing the behind the scenes work with SOS because I felt really productive and by feeling so productive it felt like more people would be benefitting. Also, it put into perspective how hard everyone there works, whether or not you are working up front or in the back doing paper work, packing food, or giving the food out.

Allison Blanning Reflection for Day 5

Today was another productive service learning day. As usual, I started out with my classmates packaging donated food into smaller containers that could be given directly to those in need. We packed oranges, some very large potatoes, onions, and cucumbers. We quickly developed an efficient assembly line that involved packaging the food, ripping new bags, and transporting the repackaged food into another crate. After working at that station for a while, Claudette and I worked in the front of the warehouse packaging food for specific people who filled out forms. We read the forms and then filled the order based on the number of people who needed food and what kind of living situation the person was in. Then, we went to the microphone and called out a number that corresponded to a ticket each person received upon entering. The best part of service learning for me is the moment when the person that you have filled the food order form comes up and receives their food. The majority of the people are extremely grateful for any food they can get, as shown through a humble smile or a firm thank you. It is so rewarding to see the direct effects of my volunteering and hard work on people in my local community.