Performing community service was a slightly jarring experience to me since my internship with KSRE has largely been projects offering services to the community. However, dozens of local causes which needed help could not afford to pay every helper. For my first project, I assisted a backpack drive in Garden City packing over 1000 bags for families in need. We had many happy volunteers for aid us with this endeavor and an outstanding number of wonderful quality backpacks for donation.
At the actual drive itself, I was able to help the front desk direct people to the gymnasium where the families could grab what they needed and I notified them of the forms they needed to present. The biggest challenge to this task was a language barrier for some of the parents, especially when they did not know which forms they needed to bring. The diversity of Garden City can be a challenge at times, but this also meant that we had many members from every facet of the community willing to help. Between the two of us at the front desk, we held three languages, and there were community members who could also translate with refugee immigrants to help the cause.
My other two projects were smaller in scale. A teacher in Buffalo Jones Elementary School needed a classroom decorated before the year began, so I volunteered to help. As I mentioned before, education has a strong place in my heart, and I am happy to support teachers and the work they perform. Finally, I helped with maintenance on a safehouse of the local family crisis center. While I may not have personal experience with their work, they provide a service to those who are in need, and manual labor is a trivial service I can offer in my mind.
