Fresh produce in a food desert

The following blog was written by Brittany Angst, a senior Accounting major on Oxford's campus, about her volunteer work with HUGS (Hamilton Urban Garden Systems) at Booker T. Washington Community Center.

This summer I have been volunteering for Hamilton community garden systems (HUGS). The organization encourages individuals living within the city of Hamilton to grow their own produce using creative methods that require much less space and energy than traditional gardening. I have learned so much while volunteering at the Booker T. Washington Community Center garden! I never knew that peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers could be grown inside raised boxes so easily.The organization has quite a few gardens all over the city and residents are encouraged to help care for the gardens. I worked at a new area that they created that is a part of the Booker T. Washington Community Center. Twice a week I would water all the plants in the evenings, and occasionally I would even pick a few weeds. 

The methods that were used to grow the produce made watering and caring for the garden very easy and I was impressed with how much easier it was to grow plants in small boxes instead of the traditional giant space-consuming rows. I am looking forward to seeing just how much food can be grown in such a limited amount of space. The gardens offer residents a chance to grow vegetables and healthy foods that they may not have access to otherwise. There is no supermarket in the immediate area, and that makes it difficult and very inconvenient and costly to go out and buy produce.The vegetables from the community centers garden will be given out to the members of the surrounding community so that they can have access to healthy fresh produce without having to spend a lot of money. I speak from experience when I say that growing something in a garden is very empowering and I think that it will be a great project for the children at the community center in the future. It is a great way to teach them about food and nutrition and nature without having to ever leave their neighborhood.

One thing that really impressed  me was how interested in the gardens people were. The children at the community center painted and decorated the boxes and the area around them, and adults would often stop by to ask me questions about who the gardens belonged to and what was being grown. People would comment about how well things were growing and seemed to be very impressed with what could be grown in such a small space. I am very proud of everything that we managed to grow at the community center and people's interest in it, especially considering the newness of the garden. I think that the garden is going to be a great tool for educating kids and I hope that it continues to be as successful in the future as it has been this summer. 

Being a part of something positive!!

The following was written by Alex Bear, junior Language Arts Education major, about his experience volunteering at Boys and Girls Club on East Ave. with their Accelerated Reader program. 

I have been working with youth at the Boys and Girls Club on East Ave this summer. I work with them during their reading time. I can honestly say that it has been a blast so far! It was a little overwhelming to see all the kids in the room; some of them can hardly read. It was hard to come up with a way to work with the most kids I can, but now, I can work with 3-4 kids.

I am learning to help kids with sounding out words and discovering the fun in reading. The kids are helping me learn management and communicating with kids in a way that they can understand and learn from. I’m surprised by how much the kids enjoy reading, they earn points from reading so many books, and then they are able to use those points for candy and other rewards.

The area that this club is located in is a high-poverty area. I live less than a mile away, and I see poverty, and children without supervision, or educational resources. This club helps combat the effects of poverty by giving the kids something creative, constructive, fun, and educational to do with their time. Being a part of something that is so positive for the children of my neighborhood and community is one of the most rewarding feelings I have felt.

I believe that poverty can be solved with education and resources like The Boys and Girls Club. I am an education major, and the skills and perspective I have seen and learned working at the Boys and Girls Club will help me be an effective teacher.

Brown Thumb Turned to Green

The following was written by Symantha Hankins, a senior  English literature Women Gender and Sexuality major at Miami University Hamilton about her experience with H.U.G.S. - Hamilton Urban and Garden Systems!   

This summer I have been working with H.U.G.S. This is the first time I've ever done any gardening, and I've always considered myself to have a brown thumb. But luckily Alfred, the person in charge of H.U.G.S., is a wonderful teacher. From the first day I had my hands in the dirt, I have been loving it! Not only is it an amazing thing to watch something that you've planted grow, but also, be able to eat what you have grown as well.

H.U.G.S. at Sustained Service Scholar orientation

The H.U.G.S. program is amazing local program whose goal is to get organic food into the hands of the community. They welcome anyone who wants to grow their own produce, and they will help you obtain the skills needed to grow a flourishing garden.

Visit H.U.G.S. on  their Facebook , Twitter or website.

Justice & Alfred gardening

Sharing the Harvest

The following was written by Kevon Michael Armstrong,a junior Psychology and Social Work major at Miami University Hamilton about his experience with Shared Harvest Foodbank!                                                                   

Kevon & Shared Harvest Volunteer

For the past two weeks, I have been volunteering at Shared Harvest Foodbank, in Fairfield Ohio. Shared Harvest is a foodbank, not to be confused with a food pantry. A foodbank is the storehouse for millions of pounds of food and other products that go out to the community. A food pantry functions as the arms that reach out to that community directly; as opposed to a foodbank, who has the ability to reach an entire county. Shared Harvest actually serves and distributes food to the local pantries or shelters in Butler, Warren, Preble, Darke, and Miami counties. Shared Harvest’s mission: is to find, rescue, and distribute food to people living in poverty through an efficient network uniting the public and private sectors, and to raise awareness of the impact of poverty.

Although I have been to Shared Harvest twice before, these past two weeks have been like the icing on a cake for me. Working for Connect2Complete and the Center for Civic Engagement at Miami Hamilton, has helped me to become more aware of the different troubles that plague not only the Hamilton community; but the general populous as well. Before my time at Miami, I was aware that some people are homeless, some people are starving, and a lot of people live in poverty. It took me serving at local non-profits like Shared Harvest, to truly empathize and sympathize with those people, who are truly in need. Being a young man who grew up privileged, I was aware of social issues, but I did not care because I usually had everything I wanted. I didn’t ever have to worry about my next meal or where I was going to lay my head at night; thankfully because of my mother’s hard work. Living this way for the majority of my life makes me feel blessed, but I feel guilty when thinking of all those families who were forced to go to bed hungry. This thought is actually what motivated me to participate in the Sustained Service Scholar (volunteer) program, which led me to Shared Harvest.

Ben Powers & Shared Harvest Volunteer

Now that I am a proud Miami Hamilton Student, I am thankful to be a part of the Sustained Service Scholar program, because I have been able to learn from Ben Powers. Ben Powers is the Community Engagement Manager at Shared Harvest Foodbank, and he is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met. The first day I walked into Shared Harvest, which was June 3^rd, 2015 in case any of you are wondering; Ben immediately began acting as a mentor to me. Being that I never had a mentor before in my life, it was shocking that he was interested in teaching me about Shared Harvest, and the impoverished people living in our community. Ben also wanted to utilize and enhance the skills I already have, which is another reason Ben and Shared Harvest are so cool.

If you have volunteered before, sometimes the process can be unorganized; and you may have even felt like you weren’t helping the community at all. In my own past experience with volunteerism, I have loathed volunteering, because I never felt like I was making a difference. I felt as if I had not helped one single person, let alone the different communities that I belonged too; which usually kept me away from Miami Hamilton’s Day of Service because I struggled to see the difference we were making. Each month Miami Hamilton chooses a local non-profit to volunteer at. Members of the community, Miami faculty, and Miami students, are all encouraged to participate on these special days. As of last week, I no longer dread the idea of not being able to truly help people, because I see how much work the staff and volunteers at Shared Harvest put in every day. I am able to literally walk in the door, walk into the warehouse, and immediately begin working, because Ben Powers has everything prepared for us all each day. 

The way Ben and Shared Harvest run their facility each day is commendable, because the people care about helping others, but they also care about the volunteer’s experience as well. Each day, each project is already set up as I mentioned before. This is unlike some of the other organizations I have volunteered at, because of how well organized Shared Harvest is. For example, there is a program at Shared Harvest called the backpack program. This program is meant to alleviate hunger that some children experience, by providing them with food for the weekend. Personally, I had never thought about what impoverished children who were starving during the week ate over the weekend. Needless to say, if they are living in poverty and are barely fed throughout the week, Shared Harvest’s backpack program is a literal lifesaver for those kids. Over the past two weeks, the other volunteers and I have been packing boxes of various types of food. The boxes will be shipped to the elderly, allowing them to enjoy at least a month’s worth of food. Now that our team has completed that particular goal, we were able to start another assembly line for boxed food, which is also being sent to the elderly who are in need.

Ben Powers is usually quite busy each week at Shared Harvest as one can infer, but he still manages to run multiple group volunteer experiences; multiple times throughout the week. As my mentor, Ben has been working to educate me in every way possible, and he also began preparing me to lead my own group of volunteers. Today, I successfully led two separate groups of volunteers, and I can honestly say I felt like I was on top of the world. The fact that Ben and the other authority figures at Shared Harvest trusted me enough to lead those two groups today, definitely made me feel like I was making a difference, but also made me feel like I was a part of the Shared Harvest family. Being that I have experience leading public forums and other group activities, I wasn’t too terrified.

The first group was more of a pair, and the couple were so funny, that the time flew by. However, once the second group of volunteers came, the time slowed down, but productivity sped up. By the end of the day, we successfully packed 400+ boxes of food that also went to the elderly in need. It seemed like Shared Harvest was a madhouse during this group, because everyone was constantly doing something or moving, and I and other volunteers, had to make sure all of the supplies were continuously replenished. Energetic, fun, and sweaty, is the best way I can describe this experience. As busy as we were, we all deeply enjoyed working together on that particular task. It was fun and we were serving our community, therefore I suggest you all volunteer at Shared Harvest at least once, so that you can also experience the joys of volunteering at a well-organized non-profit. After today, which was the longest day for me thus far, I may be exhausted, but I can’t stop smiling because I know I made a difference in a lot of people’s lives today! Thank you Shared Harvest for showing me that I can make a difference in my community, and thank you Ben for being such a great leader! If you are interested in making a difference, I recommend volunteering at Shared Harvest Foodbank immediately. You will definitely not be disappointed!!!

I teach, therefore I learn

 The following was written by Heather Heineman,a senior Criminal Justice major at Miami University Hamilton about her experience with the Boys & Girls Program at the Booker T. Washington Community Center!

“I teach, therefore I learn.” –Unknown

           When I began my time at Booker T. Washington, I had heard this quote a million times but never really understood what it meant. It has always been a dream of mine to work with children and to try to make a difference in someone’s life but this was my first opportunity to actually be able to work directly with a group of children. My time at Booker T. Washington not only showed me the importance of helping children but also showed me how much children can teach us. My very first day, I had the opportunity to work with a very smart young girl that blew me away with how creative she was. I was helping her with her homework. She was given an orange circle cut out of construction paper and was instructed to make a pizza for art class. As she was drawing the pizza, she asked my what my favorite pizza was. I said pepperoni so she said she would draw a pepperoni pizza since it was my favorite. As she was drawing the crust, she got excited and asked me if I had ever had the pizza from Little Caesars with the pretzel crust. This must have sparked her memory because she then got really excited and said she was going to make crazy bread to go with her pizza. I assumed, which is something I learned you should never do with children, that she was just going to draw it on a piece of paper. She went and got extra paper and began to roll it up. I thought she was then going to make breadsticks. I, again, was wrong. First, she made the paper bag the breadsticks come in. Then, she made little breadsticks and taped them coming out of the top. She then drew the same decoration on the front of the bag that is actually on crazy bread. She made 3-D breadsticks to add to her pizza! I was so impressed! She stapled it to her pizza and was so excited to take it to class the next day. When I saw her again, I asked her how her teacher liked it. She said, “Oh, she just ripped it off…” This story is something that I will forever remember. She had worked so hard to create something that she was so proud of just for her teacher to act like it was no big deal. It reminded me that, in life, just because we may not think something is a big deal, does not mean that it doesn't mean a lot to someone else. 

          My whole experience at Booker T. Washington was one that I will never forget. I loved being able to work with the children and get to see all their different personalities and how they learn. I loved getting hugs and being greeted at the door and taking my hand and leading me back to the classroom. I loved watching their reactions to stories and seeing the look of accomplishment on their face when they got to get candy and put a sticker up when they passed the quiz for each book they read. It would be impossible to ever list everything that these kids taught me in my short time with them. Children have a way of keeping you grounded and showing you the important things in life. They remind you to pay attention to the little things again. They become a loyal friend for something so little as just taking the time to check their homework for them or read a book with them. I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to be able to help out at Booker T. Washington and hope to be able to pass along in my life even a quarter of the knowledge I obtained when working with these wonderful children.

Someone to believe in us!

The following was written by junior Matthew Beckman, a Bachelor of Integrated Studies student, from Miami Hamilton about his experience working with the Boys & Girls Club program at Booker T. Washington Community Center.

Clint & I playing UNO at BTW with the kids!

My name is Matt Beckman and I am a student at Miami University Hamilton Campus. I have many nephews and nieces, but have never worked with children. During winter term I was chosen to participate in Sustained Service Scholars program to help children with their homework and reading. Volunteering at Booker T. Washington Community Center was one of the most challenging, rewarding, and heartfelt experiences of my life. 

I was met with many challenges as a tutor and reading coach at Booker T. Washington. The after school homework help program started right after school, so the kids were drained from school and the last thing that they want to do was work on more school. Through the lack of focus on the children's end I was able to teach myself patience and understanding. Some kids just did not want to work or had a bad day, so they would disrupt others and cause problems. To meet this challenge we would separate the kids who wanted to work and the problem starters.

Every day before I tutored I read this quote painted above the gym.
It gave me a boost of confidence knowing the struggles in life are
just a part of the ride. 

There is many rewarding aspects to tutoring kids and helping them read. Being able to directly impact poverty by helping kids and teaching them to value education is something that is rewarding in itself. When you work with a child and give them attention you see slight changes. For example, I worked with a 3rd grade girl with some behavioral problems. She would come in screaming, making rude comments to other children, and having attitude issues. When we would work on her homework she would get easily frustrated. After I looked in her eyes and reassured her that I believe in her and I am not giving up on her even though she wants me to I began to start to see slight changes. She began to open up more, sit in her chair, become more polite, work harder, and believe in herself. Now that same third grader is beginning to be the top reader and works hard and steadily on her homework. She is slow to dish out insults and quick to give a hug. See what I learned from that third grader is we all need someone to believe in us and not give up on us. It makes a huge difference in our attitudes in life. 

My heart was touched so many times as a Sustained Scholar at Booker T. Washington. After a few weeks of volunteering when the kids started to get used to me and I began to build solid relationships with the children. Everyday when I would leave there would be some child clinging to my hand telling me please don't go. If that doesn't pull on your heart strings I don't know what does. When you see a child's face light up when they get a problem right or you see a child apply what you taught them it touches your heart and changes you in a positive way. You feel that there is meaning and purpose to life once again. It's a hard pill to swallow that many of these kids who I know by name struggle with poverty, food insecurity, and very busy parents. I was able to help build a solid foundation for these kids by helping and telling them that education was a way to create a bright future. 

After having a conversation with a man who works at Booker T. I learned that some of the children do not have a male in the household to teach them things like riding a bike, playing catch, or fishing. The men that work at the community center fill that role for these kids and I was so blessed to meet every single one of them and take part in this experience. If you ever have a chance to make a difference in a child's life; take it you won't regret it. 

Matt also participated in the MLK Jr. March and National Days of Service! 

Top Left: Matt & Jeff Diver, Executive Director of S.E.L.F.

Scrubbing the bleachers! 

Group picture! 

It’s time to step up, take action!

The following was written by freshman Karen Mares, a speech pathology and audiology student, from Miami Hamilton about her experience working with the Boys & Girls Club program at Booker T. Washington Community Center. 

All good things must come to an end

         My time spent at BTW is unforgettable. It could be the worst day ever and as soon as I would walk in through the big, green doors there would always be someone to greet me and make me feel welcomed. The kids were wonderful and were always smiling. Elementary is such a fun age group to be around. I hope I made difference because I know they impacted my life.

Whether it was a gloomy or beautiful day my volunteer session would start off with signing in, of course, and having a casual talk with any of the staff around. I would arrive fifteen minutes prior to the students and set everything out with the help of the other volunteers. Once the children got to the room, that’s when the fun would start. The first hour was focused on homework. Although I got stumped on a couple of problems we would all work together to figure it out. I mostly worked with first graders but rotated constantly. The next hour was just for reading and taking A.R. tests. In this hour I was mostly with kindergarten but again rotated constantly. We worked on sight words as well. They would all get rewarded with candy and helllooo who doesn’t like candy? This was a strong motivation for all of them along with having a sticker chart for a pizza party if it all got filled in. At the end we would clean up and sign out. Out the door we went!

This experience, overall, made me realize that there is so much to life than just being self-centered. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and a simple “good job” could make a kids day. Positive comments make a huge difference. The children at BTW have great potential and I see a bright future in front of them. The right guidance and structure will keep them motivated to strive for the best. I can easily say all the staffs and volunteers were GREAT! I can’t stress enough that my experience was wonderful and I learned a lot about each individual. Although three weeks, four times a week, and two hours and thirty minutes a day may not seem like a long time, it was definitely plenty of time to increase their reading, homework, and even life skills.

I would like to thank everyone who took part in this and helped me with any questions or concerns I had. I encourage anyone to take part in our community and help out because although you may not notice the difference I guarantee someone will appreciate the time you volunteered. The world is our home no matter who you are or where you came from. It’s time to step up, take action, and share your story!

- -All good things come to an end, but they will always be remembered- -

Positive role models

The following was written by senior Catherine Snader, a nursing student, from Miami Hamilton about her experience working with the Boys & Girls Club program at Booker T. Washington Community Center. 

Over winter break I have had the opportunity to volunteer at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Hamilton near the Miami Hamilton Campus along with other students.  We are working with students at the center in the after school homework and reading program.  Although we are only a couple weeks into the program it's amazing how much learning has taken place between the students and the volunteers.  That's the great thing about service learning, everyone gets to learn!  

Before the previous few weeks I didn't realize there was such a need for volunteers in our local community.  Often at the after school program there are more students needing help with their homework, than we have volunteers.  Not only do we help the students with their homework, but this week I realized how important it is for them to have positive role models in their lives.  At first I didn't know how the students would respond to doing their homework, but as soon as I walked in a little girl ran up to me and asked me if I would help her with her homework.  I am really looking forward to continue building positive relationships with these students.         

Winter Sustained Service Scholars!

The Center for Civic Engagement at Miami University Hamilton is excited to bring the incredibly successful Sustained Service Scholars program to the Miami "Winter Term"!! 

During the first three weeks of January Miami students have the opportunity to take accelerated classes! These three weeks are known as "Winter term". This term is a great opportunity for students to participate in short study aboard trips, complete Miami Plan requirements online, or extend their winter break. While this term is a great opportunity for students to do something out of the norm, it leaves a number of our community partners in need of consistent volunteers, much like the summer. 

Hamilton Boys & Girls Club had such an amazing experience with the Sustained Service Scholars over the summer and approached Miami University Hamilton in order to provide volunteers to their program at the Booker T. Washington Community Center! Of course, we were more than happy to set up another Sustained Service Scholars program! 

From January 5th-January 23rd we have five Miami Hamilton students participating in the Sustained Service Scholars program at Booker T. Washington with the Boys & Girls Club program! Three of the Sustained Service Scholars are volunteering 4 days a week!! The scholars attended an orientation on Friday December 19th. During orientation the Scholars had an opportunity to meet with Tanya Lowry, the Booker T. Washington Community Center Director and Karen Miller, Director of Hamilton Boys & Girls Club. They toured the center and learned more about their role in the Boys & Girls club program! 

Thank you to the Booker T. Washington Community Center, Hamilton Boys & Girls Club and most of all the students for the wonderful opportunity and service that we're able to provide to the youth at BTW!