Volunteering to better my community was one of my favorite activities during my internship for Ogallala Commons because it gave me the opportunity to give back to Nazareth after it has given so much to me. Most of my internship centered on doing volunteer work and improving the community, so documenting just ten hours of community service that I did during my internship onto my timesheet was not a problem. I beautified Nazareth by mowing lawns and hanging up signs to beautify the area. This was especially important during German Fest when many people not from Nazareth visit and tour the small town. Beautifying the town was important because it left a strong first impression to people visiting Nazareth for the first time. I also planted a small garden in the middle of town to grow vegetables for the senior citizens of Nazareth and to donate to the Holy Family Church food pantry. The Nazareth senior citizens would eat lunch every Wednesday. Most of the time, the senior citizens would prepare their own meals, so I would prepare a salad along with other foods to contribute to their meal. I would also pick, wash, prepare, and bag the pieces of vegetables. I would then bring them to the food pantry to donate. People from Nazareth and other surrounding communities with financial need would travel to the food pantry if they could not afford food by themselves. I also spent some time in Dimmitt at a reading program for children at the library. I enjoyed this a lot because I enjoy working with children. I am also currently an aide for a second grade class at my school for one period. I plan to attend SPC, but then I hope to transfer to Texas Tech where I will attend the College of Education and get my major in Early Childhood. I then hope to become an elementary teacher. This community project gave me the opportunity to get more experience with working with children and teaching them. The program consisted of the head adult, Felice Acker, reading a children’s book to the kids, and then she had a project to go along with the lesson of the book. For example, one book taught the children of the importance of protecting yourself from the sun rays. So Felice came up with a project that allowed the children to make bracelets out of pipe cleaners and beads that changed color when exposed to sun light. I taught the children how to put the bracelet together.
