Writing to Seniors! (and other service updates)

 Today I took the time to write to some seniors! The first woman I wrote to is named Birdie from Lumberton Assisted Living in North Carolina. I saw her picture on one of those Facebook pages asking for pen pals and I immediately saw the kindness in her eyes. Seeing these posts of those asking for pen pals immediately reminds me of my grandma back in Florida. I haven't seen my grandma since February and with coronavirus, I haven't wanted to risk getting her sick since she is at high risk. She is lucky that she lives with my aunt and has company every day from a family member, but those who have been quarantined in assisted living homes haven't had that luxury. That is a big reason why I want to write to seniors. I talked about where I came from and what I did before being in this program and hoped to connect with them through my love of music! The other person I wrote to was named Joseph, and he was off of the list that Ms. Linda had emailed out to us. He said he loves food and I also LOVE food. I told him all about the different kinds of food that I grew up eating in a Caribbean household and how throughout quarantine I've been learning to make different cultural dishes as a way to curb feeling homesick.

I have also reached out to multiple organizations in New Orleans, such as STEM Nola and Greenlight New Orleans. Unfortunately, I haven't heard back from either one for a volunteer position which is probably due to COVID. I really wanted to get involved with STEM Nola because I love working with kids and miss that mentoring/teaching experience of being in the classroom. Greenlight New Orleans also seemed like such a unique organization, very specific to New Orleans because they have a Rain Barrel program to help combat subsidence (the sinking of soils due to the pumping of stormwater). Growing up in South Florida it is instilled in our education system to learn and care for our natural environment, the everglades, so I was excited to work with an organization that has environmental impacts. I hope that they will get back to me so that I'm able to volunteer with them. Additionally, I had signed up to read to kindergarteners last month but I didn't hear anything back from the school and teacher that Ms. Linda was coordinating with. I am continually trying to find new opportunities, but it has been difficult due to COVID-19. I did create an account on Second Harvest food bank so I will be signing up for shifts soon to hopefully complete all of my service hours for the semester!

Service Hours in this Post: 2

Total Service Hours: 6.5