Ashraf Farhoud: Pharmacology ePortfolio

March: 5 hours of community service           Despite the feeling of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly coming to an "end" with more groups of people eligible for vaccination, the community service opportunity I participated in this month reminded me of the stark reality that people are still severely struggling due to the ramifications of the virus. On March 27th, I was able to participate in the largest food distribution that I have been a part of this year; the volunteer opportunity came to be through a collaboration between CRC Global Solutions , D&R Community & Youth Institute, and Islamic Circle of North American Relief. The food drive took place at Belle Terre Playground in Marrero. Starting at 8:00 AM, we began to unload two semi-trucks full of produce and bag the groceries into individual packages for families. This took a little more than two hours; I did more unloading than I did bagging because there was a significant amount of heavy lifting involved. The food d

 February: 5 hours of community service     February held true to being the shortest month of the year; time really flew by! I thankfully got to participate in two separate food drives during the month. As per usual, I joined a group of volunteers from ICNA New Orleans to team up with Vineyard Church in Kenner. This time around, we changed locations and went held the food drive at "Darussalam" (an Islamic Center).  Similarly to the Vineyard food drive, the sense of togetherness was empowering. We distributed nearly 300 meals during the drive.  I was able to meet several members of the Muslim community as well as familiar faces I had come across during earlier food drives at Vineyard. Political discourse over the past several years has raised my concern on inclusivity and inter-faith connections between different groups of people. Time and time again, the incredibly wholesome and rewarding relationships I've developed with other volunteers and members of the community has

January Community Service Hours: 5 During the month of January, I was able to participate in two community service events. On January 18, I participated in the MLK Day of Service in New Orleans with a group of volunteers from ICNA New Orleans. We went to City Park and contributed in cleaning up along the Winser Trail. We met several volunteers while cleaning our city and remembering the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was a particularly gratifying community service opportunity for me. Normally, I would simply take MLK Day as a holiday and sleep in. A friend sent me an invitation over email that had " A day on, not a day off " written right at the top and, to be honest, it struck a cord with me. I felt guilty for not being a part of the day of service in previous years. The sense of community was overwhelming and encouraging. The month of January has been ripe with political and economic conflict. Seeing the people of New Orleans come together and make a conscious effo

    November: 4 hours of community service        The month of November flew by incredibly quickly! The weather has definitely gotten chillier. I was very excited to get some community service done during Thanksgiving break. On the Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, I volunteered with other members of my local mosque at Vineyard Church (the same church we teamed up with last month) to help with their Thanksgiving meal/produce drive. On Wednesday most of the preparation happened; we gathered the produce and prepared the meals we were going to hand out the next day. On Thursday, a majority of what I did was heavy lifting (similar to last time). I moved about 30 pallets of groceries from the 18-wheeler filled with groceries. Afterwards, I helped distribute meals to the families lined up in their cars. We practiced COVID-19 safety guidelines while doing so. My last experience volunteering with Vineyard Church was incredibly fulfilling in itself, but the experience this time around

October: 5 hours of community service      The month of October was a busy one that went by in the blink of an eye! This month, I participated in a food drive with Vineyard Church in Kenner Louisiana. When I first arrived, I was a bit confused because I saw an incredibly long line of cars that I initially thought was the result of an accident. The closer I got toVineyard Church the more it became clear to me that the line of about 350 cars I passed were all people waiting for the food drive.       There were two groups of volunteers; the main group focused on bagging the groceries and the smaller group, which I was a part of, moved pallets of groceries from the trucks to the main group. The manual labor was grueling; I felt myself getting extremely tired after a couple of hours of work. I was in charge of managing the pallet jack and moving about 50 pallets of groceries from two 18-wheelers. The pastor of Vineyard Church operated the forklift to transport the pallets I brought to him. 

September: 5 hours of community service          The first dive into any type of new volunteer work is always an exciting experience. During the month of September, I got to send my very first handwritten letter addressed to a peer! I found the perfect pen pal to write to at Phoenix Assisted Care in North Carolina. Mr. Bill’s introduction said he loves soccer and wants to be pen pals with any soccer fans. I’ve played soccer for as long as I can remember. I only recently, however, became a more serious fan of watching the sport, rather than only watching the World Cup every four years. I was excited to write to Mr. Bill about all my experiences playing soccer while growing up and that I’m looking forward to hearing about his predictions for the Champions League. I’ve only received a handful of written letters in my life and a couple of them came during unexpected times of need.  During this pandemic, I’m sure there are countless senior-citizens who would love to just have someone to tal