Hi Everyone!
As part of English 108, I must complete 30 service hours this semester. For my service project this semester, I am going to be participating with multiple community service partners. My first is Letters from Home. This is a Purdue student organization in which I am the president. This is an extraordinary opportunity. The purpose of the organization is to make cards, write letters, and send packages to troops who are deployed overseas, predominantly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year, the organization sent out over 75 packages and was successful at increasing the morale and spirits of those spending holidays away from home. My parents are both Air Force veterans and I am extremely passionate about Letters from Home.
This past week, we had our first meeting. It was on Tuesday in Armstrong Hall. There were lots of familiar faces and a few new faces. One thing I am trying to initiate this year to improve the success of the organization is to employ a Public Relations team. I feel that the clubs meetings are only advertised minimally through Facebook and a mailing list. I really feel there are many people who are just as passionate about the service the organization does; however, there has not been proper publicity in the past. Another, idea I am hoping to initiate will be the club members’ interaction with veterans in the community. The purpose of the organization to show those who have served that we care about them and appreciate their sacrifice. I was considering doing a service day at the veteran’s home in West Lafayette. The club and I are currently making Halloween themed packages filled with candies, hygiene products, and small gifts for the troops. The 8-9 packages will most likely go out at the end of September.
As my blog title implies, I am a Pre-Med student. I am also hoping to get involved volunteering at a Pediatric ward at a local hospital. I adore children and would love to get experience that will be applicable to my prospective career. On this note, I am also in a sorority. As a national organization, we have chosen St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as our philanthropy. I am currently serving on two different philanthropy committees Game Day for St. Jude and Flap Jack Attack and am participating in setup of the Carmel St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Walk on November 19, 2011. This has been extremely fun and I am so excited to see all the hard work I have put into the philanthropies on the day of the events!
If anyone has any ideas for Letters from Home or questions about dates of events, please let me know!! I would love to see familiar faces!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Shannon
It sounds like everything you have going is awesome! I love the letters from home. It is great to show our troops that we are backing them up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love little kids. They are so entertaining and it is so fun to see how they think about things in different ways.
I am not as familiar with St. Jude Children's Hospital as I am with Riley Children's Hospital. However, I know that they both do amazing things for tons of children everyday.
I think remember one day in class you were talking about all the places you have been because of your parents being veterans. Sounds like you have had some very cool experiences!
Best of luck with all of the volunteering and the events that are accompanying that.
You are such a busy girl! That’s awesome, though, that you have so much passion in your involvement in multiple organizations. It sounds like you’re going to have a ton of fun this semester, with everything that’s going on. :D
ReplyDeleteYou’re already president of Letters from Home? It seems to me that you’ve already had a lot of experience with this, so it’s good that you’re finally the one in charge. How long have you been working in this before? It’s awesome that your parents are air force veterans; no wonder you have had lots of exposure to Letters from Home, right?
I agree that publicity is something that service organizations could all work on. I feel that that’s probably the best solution to our main problem concerning volunteer-based organizations (our research paper, haha). I guess the only thing to work on is how to creatively and effectively publicize the club. Good luck with that!
Letters From Home sounds like a really neat organization. In high school my 4-H club participated in Cheers for Heroes every year around Christmas time. Cheers for Heroes was a program that had you make Christmas and New Years cards to be sent to the troops overseas; the goal was that every soldier would receive a card so that they would know that people really do appreciate everything they are sacrificing. I always felt like it was a worthwhile volunteer activity that was really making a difference in the world. I really like how Letters From Home seems to operate year round not just at Christmas because there are soldiers making sacrifices year round. That is also really nice how you send small gifts and not just cards. Do you choose who the packages go to, for example college age soldiers, or are they just given to random soldiers? I hope this continues to go well and best of luck getting involved with volunteering on a pediatric floor.
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