Today marked the first day of our service-learning trip, where me met at 4:30 a.m. next to Pheobe The Flamingo, and departed from Tampa to Atlanta for a packed day full of service!
Agape Youth and Family Centers
Our day started with a split in the group with half the students going to AGAPE and half of the students going to Leveling the Playing Field. Both of these were youth focused organizations; however, Agape had an emphasis on child learning and development. During the school year, they host a free after school program for over 250 under resourced students, providing educational resources, social activities, physical activities, and nutrition to supplement their lives outside of school and home. Similarly, they host a summer program which includes similar activities where students stay from 9am to 2pm. As volunteers, we were able to aid the students in writing introductory paragraphs to their essays, play problem solving games, and engage with students in physical activities in their gym. Subsequently, we helped served food to end our volunteering shift.
Agape was a perspective shift for many volunteers, because the students seemed detached from the education and each other. It was definitely difficult to connect with the children at first, but some of the volunteers were able to form connections. It was eye opening to see how in light of the students’ home situations, they were able to put a smile on their face. This was especially apparent during gym time.
Leveling The Playing Field
The other half of the students serving at Leveling the Playing Field worked on LPF’s goal on redistributing sports equipment access and equality within the youth sports in under resourced communities in the Atlanta area, by accepting donations on-site and through donation boxes throughout the community. Through donations and volunteers, they are able to resource enough sports equipment for those in need such as students in summer sports programs that would otherwise not be able to afford equipment to gain the experience of playing a sport.
Our job at this organization today was to sort through bins of assorted sports equipment, record inventory and place the equipment in the corresponding bins. We split into groups and started sorting the bins. We sorted everything from baseball to lacrosse sticks. We even had to climb into the bins to retrieve stray baseballs and in the end, we logged and counted 679 baseballs. With all our efforts we were able to organize over $10,000 worth of equipment to be used for distribution. After we finished up at Leveling the Playing Field, both groups headed over to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.
Atlanta Community Food Bank
After eating the delicious Chick-Fil-A, the various groups began the drive to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. While on the way, Ryan Nece drove past a homeless man, and he and the students chose to give him a spare Chick-Fil-A sandwich. After this gracious act, we were ready to give it our all while volunteering at the Ffood bank.
Upon arriving, we watched an orientation video led by Mr. Don, who explained the purpose behind the program and what we’d be doing. The Atlanta Community Food Bank supplies food for 29 different counties all along the state of Georgia, and it has given more than 1 billion meals out. Then, Mr. Don prepared us by giving instructions for volunteering. We would be sorted into various small groups that would sort boxes of donated food into categories based on food type. The boxes would be unloaded, checked for safety, and then sorted into larger boxes. After sorting dozens and dozens of boxes and carrying hundreds of food and health items, we began to clean up. Together, with the other volunteers, we made 20,411 meals for others who need them. Overall, the service was not only fun to do, with various tasks, but also very amazing to be able to help so many people.
Wrapping Up Day One
After what felt like an extremely long car ride, we finally arrived at the hotel. We ordered dinner and began debriefing the day by discussing our highs and lows. It was really nice to hear everyone’s highs and lows, because this showed how everyone had a different experience and perspective on what we did today. Afterwards, we were split into groups of surveys, thank you cards, and blogs…which is where this memoir was written. Everyone is super excited for what tomorrow will hold!!
Student Authors
