November 2018

With Thanksgiving break just behind us, and only a week till the end of the semester, it has been really busy for us MS in Pharmacology students! However, no matter how busy we get, we still always have time to give back to the community around us, one that has always given us so much. Over Thanksgiving break, I decided to volunteer at a local food bank in Kenner almost every day. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we wanted to make sure we could help as many families in need, so that they too could have a Thanksgiving meal with their loved ones. My responsibilities were repackaging donated items into “meal boxes” to distribute around the city, cooking staples such as mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy, and macaroni and cheese with other volunteers in the community kitchen, and also helping manage the “general health maintenance and awareness” tent that provided people with free medical check-ups and mini-presentations about the importance of self-examinations, proper nutrition and exercise, scheduling routine physician’s appointments, and different ways to minimize illness. I designed posters for this tent and distributed them to the people coming to the food bank, so that they could take advantage of this service as well. While I was scheduled for four hour shifts in the days leaduing up to and through Thanksgiving and Black Friday, I ended up working 6+ hours each day, because there was such a need for volunteers and I had so much fun talking with all of the people who were volunteering and coming to get food! I noticed many people were a little ashamed about needing food assistance, but we tried out best to make the food bank a party in and of itself and to make the atmosphere one of welcoming and celebration for all that we have as a community. It was truly a special experience, and I can’t wait to do it again! J

December 2, 2018

Total Community Service Hours: 29 (about 6 hours/day for 5 days)