Yesterday we met at the Adopt a Native Elder (ANE) warehouse where we prepared boxes of food for the elders. I was very impressed with how efficient the loading system was. The directors said they had learned from the many times they had done this. They had a train of shopping carts traveling around in a circle and these carts were loaded with two boxes that were then loaded with food as they were pushed around the warehouse. I don't know how many boxes were loaded that morning, but as you can see in the picture, this was a large operation. If you're interested in volunteering with this organization you can learn more at their website, http://www.anelder.org.
As we were working, the thought kept coming to me of how happy we are when we are serving. It seems to come so easily when we're doing something for somebody else. I was loading these boxes with a bunch of people I had never met, other than the few I knew from our service group, and really enjoying myself. Smiles were given out free of charge. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and helping each other. Once again, I can't help but say - we can be free forever serving others.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Adopt a Native Elder (ANE) Food Boxes
Working With the Down Syndrome Community
On Saturday, March 21, we got to help out the Salt Lake Down Syndrome community with one of their events. Some graduate students at the University of Utah helped them coordinate an event in which the children were entertained and watched while the parents were able to do some networking and give each other some mutual support. The kids were hilarious! We had a great time. We played with a parachute and balls (remember the good times in elementary school?) and one of the little guys insisted on crawling out onto the parachute while we were raising and lowering it. He was quite persistent. We also learned some sign language, and got a visit from some animals at the Hogle Zoo. The desert tortoise was by far my favorite.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Teach the Children - Uganda
We met with Heather and Dickson Senkunda at Athena's house and learned about their organization, Teach the Children. Dickson is from Uganda and he and his wife Heather are collecting books for school kids in Uganda. Their goal is to send 1000 pounds of books to Uganda by March 31st. We thought we would help them out by collecting books. We had a great time with Heather, Dickson, and their cute little baby girl.
They still need books and funding to ship the books. If you would like to help out, please see their website Teach the Children. Hopefully we will get to help them out more in the future!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Relay for Life Kick-off
We got to attend a kick-off event this past Thursday for this summer's Relay for Life organized by the American Cancer Society. One of our group members, Melissa Uribe, is one of the managers for this event so we're super excited to jump on board and put a team together. (Stay tuned to learn how to donate online to sponsor our team.) The fight against cancer certainly hits home for all of us and this is going to be a great way for us to get involved and help in the search for a cure.
If you're interested in joining our team, just send me an email at natejustis@yahoo.com.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Inaugural Activity
What a great day. We got together for our first service activity and shared a waffle breakfast together. After breakfast we brainstormed different ways we could provide service to the community in the months to come. We also brought together some nonperishable food to take over to the Food Bank. Good fun, good service, and good times to come!
A big thanks to everyone who was able to come and to anyone else that helped put this together!
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