Sherry Akins: Sustained Service Scholars

I have enjoyed my time spent working with the children at Booker T. Washington Community Center.  There are many moments that have been memorable or enjoyable.  Each child has a very different personality, which has made each visit a unique, and sometimes challenging experience.  Some of the children love reading or being read to, but others are a little less enthusiastic and need some encouragement to get them to participate.  One theme I have noticed among them is a strong need for one on one interaction.  The children often lean on me while they work on their assignments, and want to touch my hands, play with the rings on my fingers, and will physically or verbally bring my attention back to them when I try to divide my attention between two of them.  Some days, they are more interested in learning about me than in working on their homework, but I can ususally draw them back in by reminding them that they can go play games after completing their work.  They really love the community center and staff members!  I am honored to have been a part of the volunteer staff at Booker T. Washington!

Sherry Akins

Akshetha Reddy: Sustained Service Scholars Winter 2016

My experience at Booker T. Washington Community Center this winter has been amazing, I met really great kids who are interested in learning and reading about many things. I think this is a great way to encourage young students into getting in a habit of finishing their school work first and asking for help when they feel the need to. Right after they finish their homework, they get a chance to pick a book they want to read and be rewarded in form of candy for reading. I loved hearing children read stories out loud and asking about what some words mean, this reminded me of a quote by Albert Einstein “The important thing is not to stop questioning” and I felt honored that I could be part of something they learned.

        After meeting some of the kids who are expected to be at a certain level of reading and they were behind the level should have been at their age, I felt that it is our responsibility to teach them and help them get on same level as their peers. Their enthusiasm is what moved me so much and my time volunteering there flies by so fast. Some of the kids who come to center to their homework feel unenthusiastic about the work that was assigned to them at school and struggle finishing it, but having someone next to them to help them understand their homework and motivating them to do their work helps them very much. If this program is continued like this where kids have safe place to study and play after their school, I strongly believe that these children will achieve great education standards.

        I have enjoyed my time at the community center and had great experience. I also learned that privileges are very different, even in schools when the community is different. I love the motive behind this program and had great time sharing my knowledge and being able to make some difference with this opportunity. 

Being a Mentor to the Future Generation: Peter Engelhard

Volunteering at the Booker T Washington Community Center was a great experience for me.  I have loved volunteering at this place because the kids are so fun to be around.  I have made great relationships with some of the kids who come over at the community center.  On the first day volunteering over there, I didn't know what to expected because I have never volunteered over there before.  Volunteering throughout the weeks, I have learned how the process works and what to expect.  There are kids, when they come in and see me, they will remember my name.  This has touched my heart.  I have helped different kids in the subjects of: reading, math, and history.  Helping them brings back memories of when I was a little kid.

Being in this program, I have seen and talked to most of these kids coming from low-income families, which brings back memories of STAYcation of how it was like living in poverty and learning about poverty in Hamilton.  There was a boy who I have a positive relationship with that he told me when grows up, he wants to be a lawyer so he can help his mom.  I told him that he needed to study, read a lot, and to go to law school.  This made me happy for me to hear him say that.  I have learned how I can speak at a kids' level so they an better understand me as I help him/her do their homework.  Helping these kids has shown me that I want to help the future generation to be able to succeed. 

I have worked with great people who helped me succeed throughout the program.  As the program is coming to a close, I have told people I would still volunteer at the Booker T Washington Community Center even after the program is over.  Booker T Washington Community Center is a great non-profit organization to volunteer at if anybody would like to make a difference in the children's lives and to be a mentor to them.  These children who are coming to the community center will be successful in going and getting a good education.  People need to volunteer at the Booker T Washington Community Center because this will impact and change your live as it did to mine.  Volunteering at the community center is one of the things that has turned me into a Hamiltonian!!!!!!    

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!!!