February Blog

 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 revitalized my hope for an inclusive and empathetic future. Volunteering truly provides a new prospective on life.

    As for the second food drive, I volunteered at the Kenner Food Pantry. This food drive was unique; it focused primarily on delivering breakfast to the homeless. The experience definitely humbled me a bit more as compared to the other food drives I had participated in. With breakfast often being a meal I willingly decide to skip out on, distributing breakfast to the homeless riddled me with guilt. Furthermore, having conversations with them and seeing the sincere looks of gratitude in their eyes broke me. I began to think of the countless homeless people I see on my way to Tulane when going to classes. The reality check hit me hard; I now realize how dire it is that everyone in a just society be surrounded by a support network. Everyone is capable of falling into hard times. Everyone is capable of helping. I plan on volunteering at several homeless food/clothing drives in the future.

AF


Total Hours for Spring Semester: 10 hours

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