Though I did not have a lot of experience in cooking food for large numbers of people, I was surprise of how how much I was able to learn from these few past opportunities. I've learned how to manage time and organize order in the kitchen. Also, since we were cooking in large batches, I've learned how to communicate and work as a team.
On Saturday, April 23, I volunteered with my Koinonia Christian Fellowship organization to help construct a gym. The work day started bright and early and ended at dinner time. This was a memorable experience because I was given an opportunity to learn how to work with power tools with such great company. Everyone worked together as a team. We divided into smaller groups of two or three and was given an assigned task to complete. For my group, we were to cut PVC pipes into the desired lengths and design a pathway for it flow well with the infrastructure. My lack of experience in construction made it difficult, but by the end of the day, we were able to finish the water pipes and I was able to conquer my fear of heights!
Lead: Joyce Ikkanda jikkanda@gmail.com
HackTX was an interesting experience in which I was fortunate to be a part of. The event involved a lot of lifting food supplies, serving extremely hungry hackers, signing in volunteers/contestants, and attending to everyone's needs. It was also exciting to see how many people were involved with the event. There was so much thought and organization put into running everything smoothly. Many companies flew in for the event and it was interesting to meet such incredible people.
This was my first time volunteering for the Cap10k Run in Austin. The experience was great! I got to meet new people and share stories with them. Also, we were in charge of passing out water bottles to the runners who just finished the race. However, due to the weird placement and pathway of the tents and water station, my group had to be flexible and direct the runners into the correct path toward the Evamor station. Though I kind of lost my voice the next day from shouting for like over an hour, it was really rewarding to hear from the runners that they were thankful for our help!
Organizer: Stacy Farrugia
Email: stacy.farrugia@highfiveevents.com
Writing letters to those who provide service for our nation is always a great feeling. This is the season of giving and the best gift to give is the words of thanks and encouragement for what these soldiers have done for us.
The warehouse was filled with extremely nice volunteers and leaders. There were a lot of packaging to do and it required many people to man the various stations. I helped inspect the frozen items that were kindly donated to the center. Also, I helped label the boxes and clean the floors. This community service is my favorite so far! After the shift, we calculated the amount of food we handled. Over 8600 pounds of frozen meat and ice cream were donated which averages out to be 7216 meals for the those in need. I'll definitely come back to help out.
Organizer: Latoya Thomas
Email: lthomas@austinfoodbank.org or austinfoodbank.org
This was my first time gardening. We mixed the compost with shovels, painted the picnic table, removed weeds and grass, as well as throw out any trash around the area. It was physical labor, but the experience was great and you meet a lot of new people there.
The Natural Science Career Expo is a large event that requires a lot of volunteers and staff to organize and manage. There were so many companies present to interview potential interns. As volunteers, we helped pass out food and drinks for the guest companies. We also set up decorations, such as balloons along the outside of the center. The last job I had to do was to make sure all students had on name tags before entering in the center. It was a great experience! I originally only planned to volunteer for 2 hours due to my class schedule, but I manage to slip in for any extra two hours that day because the people and staff there were super friendly and it encouraged me to spend more time for a good cause.
Organizer: Ruth Franks
Email: ruth.franks@austin.utexas.edu
