Project Link-Erin Sienas

This is a picture of my cousin, Alex and I volunteering

This is a picture of me holding one of the packs of food

1. I volunteered my time at Feed My Starving Children at the Aurora, IL location. I volunteered three different times for a total of 5 hours. The first time I volunteered with my friend, Torre and then the last two times I volunteered with little cousin, Alexander who is 9. 

2. I volunteered at a place called Feed My Starving Children, that serves poor/malnourished children in third world countries. This company is a non-profit organization. Basically, there is hour and a half to two hour sessions where you pack food for children in different countries. You are split up into different teams and you try to pack the most food as you possibly can. Towards the end of the session, you stop and clean up and then go to the warehouse to bless the food. Finally, there is an ending session and you find how much you actually packed in that session. This Christian organization is a great example of our class, The Disadvantaged Family and the concepts that are embedded in it. It would go hand-in-hand with a disadvantaged group, meaning children that are malnourished and come from poor parts of the country. This relates to the lecture on disadvantaged children, and hunger in the third world countries. Hunger is a problem in the U.S. However, children in other countries need food to stay nourished too. 

3. There were no networking opportunities because I was just going there to pack the food. When you first get there, you do have to sign in and speak with a worker there. You sign in and can provide your email address for promotional opportunities with Feed My Starving Children. I am already on their e-mail list and receive emails from them. After the session, you also can talk with workers who work there about their program and can buy gifts for yourself or others to benefit the cause. Also, all of the food that is packed by the volunteers there comes from money donated and goes towards purchasing the food. So, you either can donate money or you can buy a box of food for $50. The only people I really interacted with there where the other volunteers in my group. 

4. I think Feed My Starving Children is a great cause not only for the community, and surrounding communities, but for the world. Feed My Starving Children strives to feed as many starving children as they possibly can in the countries that they go to. They literally deliver the food themselves, which is also a really neat aspect about this organization. I think this is a great cause and really affects a lot of lives. When going there, it really makes you think about what we have in the U.S. and makes you grateful for what you have. 

5. I really liked doing this assignment, and volunteering with this organization. This was not my first time volunteering there before, and it will definitely not be my last! I really enjoy going to this site and I like how all of the workers are excited to be there and really make a difference in other people lives. They really push you to go above and beyond in your packing session and put on upbeat music to keep you motivated! I like how the community works together to pack the food and it goes all the way to a third world country to help out children become/stay healthy and nourished. This is really a great cause and does show you some great life lessons. It shows you to appreciate what you do have, and to be grateful for the food you are given. I liked taking my little cousin because I think not only does he help out other children his age, but he has fun while doing it!