In case you haven't heard, this weekend is Big Sunday, the largest regional community service event in the country. There are plenty of places you can go and help out! Everyone should be able to find something that matches their own taste. I hope everybody is having a good week. Here is a link to their website Big Sunday.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Big Sunday!!!!
In case you haven't heard, this weekend is Big Sunday, the largest regional community service event in the country. There are plenty of places you can go and help out! Everyone should be able to find something that matches their own taste. I hope everybody is having a good week. Here is a link to their website Big Sunday.
Shanes Inspiration
Grading:
Ease of Sign Up: 5/5
Physicality: 3/5
Fun Factor: 5/5
Info:
Address: 15213 Burbank Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91411 USA
Phone: Toll Free, (888) 61SHANE or (888) 617-4263
Hours for Shane's Club, Last Saturday of Every Month: 9:30AM - 1PM
http://shanesinspiration.org/
Time Spent:
10:00AM - 1:00PM April 25th, 2009
Cut The Crap:
Shane's Inspiration was founded 11 years ago by two parents who lost their child soon after birth. They realized that had their child, Shane, lived; he would have never had been able to play on a normal playground. They made it their mission to make a universally accessible playground. What started as one playground, has spread and their are many of these playgrounds not just in LA, or the country, but around the world. Click here to visit Shane's Inspiration.
Our Experience:
Third times the charm... But the first and second times were great fun too, so I guess that saying doesn't apply. As usual Shane's inspiration was a great time in the park. The weather was great and everyone had a blast. For entertainment, Campbell Hall's theater club put on two great skits telling Colombian folk tales. Thanks to Jennifer and Amanda for coming and helping out. And no thanks to Josh and Nick, who decided playing golf on the adjacent golf course was a better use of time than enriching the lives of today's children.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Project Angel Food (Food Delivery)
Grading:
Ease Sign of Sign up
4/5
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
1/5
Fun Factor
4/5
Info:
Address: 922 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702
Phone: 323.845.1816
Hours: 8AM - 5PM, Sun-Friday
Time Spent
11:30AM - 1:30PM April 24th, 2009
Pictures
Cut the crap:
Project Angel Food is a volunteer organization geared towards providing meals for those who are home bound due to illness and unable to prepare meals for themselves. It was originally set up to care for HIV/AIDS patients but now cares for people with Cancer and other debilitating diseases. It was started in 1989 and since it’s conception, has prepared and delivered more then 3.4 MILLION meals. To find out more about Project Angel Food click on the link.
Personal Experience:
We arrived at 11:30 in the morning to get ready for food deliveries. For the most part it is a pretty easy job. As usual, the staff at Project Angel Food is very appreciative and friendly. In the delivery area all the food items for the drop offs are put in one spot. It is your responsibility to put the different items in the correct bags. Since they don't deliver on Saturday, our bags were a little bigger then usual. This was so that the clients would have their Saturday meals, however the bags were not heavy or cumbersome in anyway. This was a bit different from our Meals on Wheels experience in several ways. At meals on wheels the coolers smelled pretty bad, however the directions from stop to stop were a lot better. Luckily Justin and I had a GPS, this made our route much easier. A convenient part of the Project Angel Food deliveries is that you don't have to return to their office when you are done to drop off anything. If there is any food that can't be delivered you can give away or eat yourself. There was one person who didn't answer the door and we were not allowed to just leave the food so Justin helped himself to some Cheerio's. We gave the rest to a homeless guy. The people we delivered to were a little more talkative then the people we served at Meals on Wheels but not by much. I am sure that the more we go the more we will have a chance to strike up some conversations.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
New Logo and April Fools Joke
Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you all know that our post yesterday was our April Fools joke... for anyone who took it seriously. I know we got a couple laughs out of a few of you. Also I wanted to take a chance to give a huge thanks to Jason for the sweet new logo he made for L.A. Karma Project. If anyone needs some graphics done let me know. I will put you in touch with him. Justin is getting it tattooed on his chest. Thanks for stopping by!Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Guns for the Children................APRIL FOOLS!
Grading:
Ease of Sign Up: 5/5Physicality: 3/5
Fun Factor: 5/5
Info:
Address: 1983 February Ave. LA 90024
Phone: (401) 401-2009
Hours: Monday - Friday Starting at 10:30AM
Time Spent:
8:30AM - 12:30PM
Cut the Crap:Kids in developed countries are at much more of an advantage when it comes to having quality weapons. In underdeveloped countries many kids are stuck using small knives or stones. The fortunate ones are able to get machetes. Guns for the Children does their best to correct this disparity by providing quality and dependable arms and ammunition to children whose only wrongdoing was not being born in the best country in the world…the United States. You can visit their website here www.GunsForTheChildren.org.
Personal Experience:Justin and I had an amazing time at Guns for the Children. After we got through the checkpoints we were led around James McCreedolie. Even though he only had one real limb left he had a great disposition and was very impassioned by the cause he was working for. It was very inspiring to see him work. He told me they ship out over eight tons of arms and ammunition a week. G4C receives most of their weapons from private donations within the United States. We live in one of the most charitable countries in the world.
The work was somewhat menial. We had a list of weapons that were going in different boxes. Once we figured out where everything went, things moved along a lot faster. Justin messed up, however, when he accidentally packaged and sent a box of stun grenades instead of nerve gas grenades. We didn't tell the supervisor. Hopefully no one will find out. I spent most of the time there using a hammer to make sure the firing pins were properly placed in the shoulder held rocket launchers. They made me wear earplugs and safety goggles, lame. McCeedolie thought it was hilarious to light firecrackers while we were working to try and scare us. I still have no idea how he managed to operate a lighter, he only had two fingers on his only arm. Unfortunately we were unable to round up anyone to help us volunteer this time, but next time we go, I am sure we can round up someone.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Shane's Inspiration Part II: Balboa Park RETURNS
Grading:
Ease of Sign up (5 being easiest)
4/5 (Zach) 4/5 (Justin)
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
1/5 (Zach) 2/5 (Justin)
Fun Factor: 5/5
Info:
Address: 15213 Burbank Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91411 USA
Ease of Sign up (5 being easiest)
4/5 (Zach) 4/5 (Justin)
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
1/5 (Zach) 2/5 (Justin)
Fun Factor: 5/5
Info:
Address: 15213 Burbank Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91411 USA
Phone: Toll Free, (888) 61SHANE or (888) 617-4263
Hours for Shane's Club, Last Saturday of Every Month: 9:30AM - 1PM
http://shanesinspiration.org/
Time Spent:
9:30AM - 1:45PM March 28th, 2009
http://shanesinspiration.org/
Time Spent:
9:30AM - 1:45PM March 28th, 2009
Cut The Crap:
Shane's Inspiration was founded 11 years ago by two parents who lost their child soon after birth. They realized that had their child, Shane, lived; he would have never had been able to play on a normal playground. They made it their mission to make a universally accessible playground. What started as one playground, has spread and their are many of these playgrounds not just in LA, or the country, but around the world. Click here to visit Shane's Inspiration.
Our Experience
Once again we stopped by Shane's Inspiration, this time Shane's Club was at Balboa Park in Encino. This was such a cool playground. Even better then the last one! We would like to thank all the people who helped us and Shane's Inspiration by volunteering. For a more in depth breakdown of Shane's Inspiration, check out our last blog about it here.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
AIDS Project Los Angeles S.T.A.G.E Fundraiser
Grading:Ease of Sign Up: 5/5
Physicality: 2/5
Fun Factor: 4/5
Info:
Address: 611 South Kingsley Drive. LA 90005
Phone: (213) 201-1600
Time Spent:
5:00pm-12:00am
Cut the Crap:
AIDS Project Los Angeles, is dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by HIV and raising awareness in hope of reducing the infection rates. They run several major fundraisers per year, including the AIDS walk, and the S.T.A.G.E. event which is a musical compilation with a new theme each year.
Personal Experience:
When we first arrived at the theater to help, we met Jim, the Volunteer Coordinator. He was really nice and very appreciative of our help. We were split up and assigned to work the silent auction and run the ticket booth. It was a lot of fun and a very social event, so that time went by pretty quick.
After intermission, the silent auction ended, and with the handing out of the prizes, so did the fun. When the show ended the flood gates opened and a rush of people came in to claim their winnings. To say it was an unorganized mess would be an understatement. The ladies in charge of the silent auction were yelling and throwing out commands like "Hey you! Get me sm143," without saying what sm143 was, no one liked that very much. Besides the hectic end, it was great hanging out with everyone and supporting a great cause. They have some really interesting and fun events coming up that we will be attending and looking forward to helping with. Thanks also to Jennifer, Nesrine, Lindsay, and Amanda for coming with us to help!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Meals on Wheels of West LA
Ease of Sign Up: 5/5
Physicality: 1/5
Fun Factor: 3/5
Info:
Address: 900 Hilgard Ave. LA 90024
Phone: (310) 208-3439
Hours: Monday - Friday Starting at 10:30AM
Time Spent:
10:30AM - 12:30PM
Cut the Crap:
Meals on Wheels of West L.A. operates just off the UCLA campus, out of the University Religious Council Building on Hilgard. M.O.W. provides hot and cold meals to people who are for the most part home bound and have a hard time getting food for themselves. M.O.W. provides over 80 people a day with a lunch and dinner. Clients usually get meals 5 days a week.
Personal Experience:
Justin and I had a pretty good experience at Meals on Wheels of West LA. The sign up process was very easy. All we had to do was show up. There was no paperwork to fill out. Within 10 minutes we were filled in on all their procedures and on how to go about doing our route. There are about 8 different routes, everyone is assigned one. First we went to the UCLA hospital loading dock and picked up two containers. One with the hot meal and one with the cold meal. Then we drove from residence to residence to drop off the meals. We were given a booklet for our route with all the stops and directions of how to get to each place. It was idiot proof. You don't necessarily have to be very good with directions. We had a really good time, but I think the more you go the more rewarding it would be. A lot of the elderly people we brought meals to were a little timid and didn't really want to talk. I am sure that the more you go, and the more familiar you are to the client, the more likely it would be to strike up a good conversation. One of the women who was really friendly was a 93 year old former Minsky's dancer from New York. She told us she had plenty of stories to tell us, I pictured amazing stories about her hanging out with the rat pack, and good old Blue Eyes smashing a bottle of Jack against someone's head, I couldn't wait. We told her we had plenty of time. She told us she would have told us stories but had lots to do and didn't have her make up on yet.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Shane's Inspiration
Grading:
Ease of Sign up (5 being easiest)
4/5 (Zach) 4/5 (Justin)
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
1/5 (Zach) 2/5 (Justin)
Fun Factor: 5/5
Info:
Address: 15213 Burbank Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91411 USA
Hours for Shane's Club, Last Saturday of Every Month: 9:30AM - 1PM
http://shanesinspiration.org/
Time Spent:
9AM - 1:00PM February 28th, 2009
http://shanesinspiration.org/
Time Spent:
9AM - 1:00PM February 28th, 2009
Cut The Crap:
Shane's Inspiration was founded 11 years ago by two parents who lost their child soon after birth. They realized that had their child, Shane, lived; he would have never had been able to play on a normal playground. They made it their mission to make a universally accessible playground. What started as one playground, has spread and their are many of these playgrounds not just in LA, or the country, but around the world. Click here to visit Shane's Inspiration.
Zach's Experience
I found Shane’s Inspiration to be my favorite and most rewarding of the projects I have worked on to date. The fact that you are working with children and have the opportunity to see the effects of your time and effort first hand is one of the reasons I loved it so much. It probably also helped that it was a beautiful day to be in the park. When we showed up we met with Marjorie who immediately put Justin and I to work setting up tents. Then the kids started arriving.Not all of the children who participated up were disabled. A lot of the disabled kids came with their parents and siblings. This gave the event a fun and easygoing atmosphere. There were games for the kids to play, face painting and of course the playground. Justin and I had volunteered to pair up with the kids and play with them around the playground. I was paired up with a four-year-old girl named Jessica. She was born with Spina Bifida. Her upper body was the same as any other four year old’s would be, but her lower legs and lower torso were affected by the condition. This made it necessary for her to use a walker. At most playgrounds she wouldn’t be able to play because of all the obstacles. This playground, however, was completely accessible to her. With the walker she was surprisingly fast and I was getting tired following her around. She smiled from ear to ear the whole time she was running around all the equipment. She was truly one of the most happy and enthusiastic children I have ever met. I also had the opportunity to talk to her parents and get their perspective on Shane’s Inspiration. By the end of the day I was at the face painting station and got to put some sweet tags on some sweet kids. Rad. I left Shane’s Inspiration feeling motivated to do more, and feeling I had even more fun then Jessica. Definitely a place I would go back to.
Justin's Experience
Not all of the children who participated up were disabled. A lot of the disabled kids came with their parents and siblings. This gave the event a fun and easygoing atmosphere. There were games for the kids to play, face painting and of course the playground. Justin and I had volunteered to pair up with the kids and play with them around the playground. I was paired up with a four-year-old girl named Jessica. She was born with Spina Bifida. Her upper body was the same as any other four year old’s would be, but her lower legs and lower torso were affected by the condition. This made it necessary for her to use a walker. At most playgrounds she wouldn’t be able to play because of all the obstacles. This playground, however, was completely accessible to her. With the walker she was surprisingly fast and I was getting tired following her around. She smiled from ear to ear the whole time she was running around all the equipment. She was truly one of the most happy and enthusiastic children I have ever met. I also had the opportunity to talk to her parents and get their perspective on Shane’s Inspiration. By the end of the day I was at the face painting station and got to put some sweet tags on some sweet kids. Rad. I left Shane’s Inspiration feeling motivated to do more, and feeling I had even more fun then Jessica. Definitely a place I would go back to.Justin's Experience
Shane's Inspiration was some of the most fun I have had in a long time. The morning started with helping to set up the sign in area which was quick. The staff was great and very friendly. After that, the children started showing up and each was asked if they wanted a buddy. I kind of felt like the last kid picked for kickball since everyone was picked as a buddy before me, but in the end I'm glad it worked that way. A few minutes after Zach had been picked up by a family I was finally picked! I walked over to meet my new buddy who was staring at cars in the parking lot. I 
knew from this point we would get along, as I love looking at cars or anything on wheels for that matter. Mark is a 4 1/2 year old who suffered horrible seizures when he was younger (up to 100 per day) but thanks to a new diet his mom found out about he has been seizure free for some time now. Mark was accompanied by his mom, and grandmother, who were wonderful and a lot of fun to talk to. We first went over to one of the Disney game booths to win a hat. After 3 great throws, Mark knocked over all the cans and won himself a nice pair of Mickey ears! We then wandered around and decided the swings were calling our names. He absolutely loved the swings and was all smiles. He is on a very strict diet so at one point we had to stop and take a food break, which was nice since I was getting sore from pushing the swings. We sat and I learned some sign language from him and his mother and learned more about this diet he is on which has done wonders. Next it was time for the "Sharing is Caring," show which we decided to skip and take advantage of the much emptier playground. I'm sure it was a great presentation, but we had slides to conquer. The rest of the time was spent on the various structures in this amazing play ground that is 100% handicap accessible. We finished up the day with some sticker art and then parted ways. I had a great time hanging out with Mark, his mother, and his grandmother. I wish I had a camera handy for some pictures, but they said they would come out next month and I plan to join them! You should come too! Its a great way to help out and get a chance to play on a playground without feeling creepy.
(The children's names have been changed to protect their privacy)
knew from this point we would get along, as I love looking at cars or anything on wheels for that matter. Mark is a 4 1/2 year old who suffered horrible seizures when he was younger (up to 100 per day) but thanks to a new diet his mom found out about he has been seizure free for some time now. Mark was accompanied by his mom, and grandmother, who were wonderful and a lot of fun to talk to. We first went over to one of the Disney game booths to win a hat. After 3 great throws, Mark knocked over all the cans and won himself a nice pair of Mickey ears! We then wandered around and decided the swings were calling our names. He absolutely loved the swings and was all smiles. He is on a very strict diet so at one point we had to stop and take a food break, which was nice since I was getting sore from pushing the swings. We sat and I learned some sign language from him and his mother and learned more about this diet he is on which has done wonders. Next it was time for the "Sharing is Caring," show which we decided to skip and take advantage of the much emptier playground. I'm sure it was a great presentation, but we had slides to conquer. The rest of the time was spent on the various structures in this amazing play ground that is 100% handicap accessible. We finished up the day with some sticker art and then parted ways. I had a great time hanging out with Mark, his mother, and his grandmother. I wish I had a camera handy for some pictures, but they said they would come out next month and I plan to join them! You should come too! Its a great way to help out and get a chance to play on a playground without feeling creepy.(The children's names have been changed to protect their privacy)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wheels for Humanity
Grading:Ease of Sign Up: 3/5
Physicality: 4/5
Fun Factor: 1/5
Info:
Address: 12750 Raymar St. Unit 4, North Hollywood, CA 91605
Phone: (818) 255-0100
Hours:Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm
Saturday 9:00am-2:00pm
Wheels for Humanity
Time Spent:
9:00am-12:00pm February 26th, 2009
Cut the Crap:
Wheels for Humanity, is a non-profit organization that takes all types of wheel chairs and refurbishes them for use in third world countries. They make about 15 shipments a year. Each of these shipments is a large container filled with several hundred chairs. They are currently developing their own wheelchair that can be produced inexpensively for use overseas.
Personal Experience:
We started by showing up on Tuesday ready to volunteer after confirming with their front office. When we showed up Justin went to the restroom to go wash off his hands because he rode his bike to the shop. Immediately Justin started getting yelled at by people in the office and told he wasn't allowed to be in there. They got more mad and yelled at him to get out. Then we heard from the side office "what are these kids doing here?" Once they realized that we were here to volunteer and not doing court ordered community service, they came in a personally apologized to us. Apparently they had a tough morning with the supervisor's car being broken into, and cell phones around the office being stolen.
Once everything was straightened out, Michael, the Operations Manager, took us on a tour and showed us what the organization was all about. He introduced us to David who was in charge of the volunteers and community service and we made an appointment to come in and help out Thursday.
The organization is for a good cause, however, the work is a bit tedious, like many of the other warehouse type volunteering jobs we have done so far. We spent the morning taking apart basic wheelchairs, cleaning and re greasing the bearings, cleaning off the rust and dirt, and putting the chairs back together. The shop was nice, with all the tools you need to repair the chairs. Zach and I were probably annoying some of the people doing time, with our somewhat inappropriate situational humor. The people where helpful, and gave us tips on getting things done faster. After hearing an ad on the radio telling the listener how with a pill you can have an erection that lasts hours, we also joked about how horrible that would actually be. That was by far the highlight of the day.
All in all, the organization is for a good cause and some of the people doing community service were nice. It's unfortunate that the supervisors weren't very polite, and treated volunteers like criminals. They never came into the shop to mingle with the workers like we had experienced while volunteering at other places. If you really enjoy dismantling things, or really enjoy abuse I would highly recommend volunteering at Wheels for Humanity. All in all our experience greasing nuts was not as pleasurable as you think it would be.
Personal Experience:
We started by showing up on Tuesday ready to volunteer after confirming with their front office. When we showed up Justin went to the restroom to go wash off his hands because he rode his bike to the shop. Immediately Justin started getting yelled at by people in the office and told he wasn't allowed to be in there. They got more mad and yelled at him to get out. Then we heard from the side office "what are these kids doing here?" Once they realized that we were here to volunteer and not doing court ordered community service, they came in a personally apologized to us. Apparently they had a tough morning with the supervisor's car being broken into, and cell phones around the office being stolen.Once everything was straightened out, Michael, the Operations Manager, took us on a tour and showed us what the organization was all about. He introduced us to David who was in charge of the volunteers and community service and we made an appointment to come in and help out Thursday.
The organization is for a good cause, however, the work is a bit tedious, like many of the other warehouse type volunteering jobs we have done so far. We spent the morning taking apart basic wheelchairs, cleaning and re greasing the bearings, cleaning off the rust and dirt, and putting the chairs back together. The shop was nice, with all the tools you need to repair the chairs. Zach and I were probably annoying some of the people doing time, with our somewhat inappropriate situational humor. The people where helpful, and gave us tips on getting things done faster. After hearing an ad on the radio telling the listener how with a pill you can have an erection that lasts hours, we also joked about how horrible that would actually be. That was by far the highlight of the day.All in all, the organization is for a good cause and some of the people doing community service were nice. It's unfortunate that the supervisors weren't very polite, and treated volunteers like criminals. They never came into the shop to mingle with the workers like we had experienced while volunteering at other places. If you really enjoy dismantling things, or really enjoy abuse I would highly recommend volunteering at Wheels for Humanity. All in all our experience greasing nuts was not as pleasurable as you think it would be.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Operation Gratitude
Grading:
Ease of Sign up (5 being easiest)
5/5 (Zach) 5/5 (Justin)
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
3/5 (Zach) 2/5 (Justin)
Fun Factor: 3/5
Info:
Address: 17330 Victory Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406
Phone: No Phone Available
Hours: Monday & Friday: 9AM - 4PM
Tuesday - Thursday: 12PM - 4PM
Saturday & Sunday 9AM - 4PM
http://www.opgratitude.com/
Time Spent:
9AM - 1:00PM February 13th, 2009
Cut The Crap:
Operation Gratitude is a great organization that works out of the Van Nuys National Guard Armory and sends out care packages to troops in conflict zones overseas. The organization has already sent out 320,000 they all include nice little gifts along with personal letters from caring people. There are many ways one can help out. You can help put the packages together, assist with labeling or by writing letters. There is no sign up process or lengthy set of paperwork to fill out before you can start helping. For more info on how you can get involved visit Operation Gratitude.
Operation Gratitude – Zach's Experience
When I arrived, Justin and I met up with the director of volunteering named Charlie. He was very friendly and told us real simple instructions. Take out these five hour energy drinks from the care packages and then separate all the contents. So pretty much they already had these packages put together but they were completely ruined by these stupid energy drinks. We are talking tens of thousands. Turns out they burst in transit and got all over many of the other
contents of the care packages. They would soon become the bane of my existence. First of all, why are we giving this type of crap to our soldiers overseas? It is like poison. It is bad for you and gets you all tweaked out. Is this what we want to give our guys out on patrol. These were really tiny bottles… but somehow they managed to squeeze in enough warning information you would think they inscribed the Aeneid on the side. Oh well, all I can say is, I am glad that we were taking that garbage out of their care packages.
Justin and I were examples of efficiency. We hauled ass and separated things faster then anyone had ever done in the place. Then after a couple hours rolled in “Mr. American Flag Suspenders Guy.” Operation Gratitude…More like Operation Attitude. To tell you the truth I didn’t even mind working with the guy who was doing community service for the hate crime he committed…but “Mr. American Flag Suspenders Guy,” to be henceforth known as, MAFSG was terrible. Instead of being friendly and introducing himself to us, like everyone else had done, he came over and immediately told us we were doing everything the wrong way. However, he never told us his correct way of doing things. Everyone else was telling us what a good job we were doing. I hate saying anything bad about a community service organization but I can’t let this go. We went to Operation Gratitude with the best of intentions and myopic pseudo Grinch was constantly over our shoulders and grabbing things from us instead of just letting us get work done. It truly seemed like this was his way of hazing us. Luckily he was only there for about two hours. In my opinion it was two hours too long. It got better after that.
One of the coolest aspects of the whole program is the personal notes that go along with every package. At the armory when I was walking around there were boxes and boxes full of handwritten notes from adults and school children. If I were to go back and help out I feel that is what I would want to help with. All the letters need to be screened and put in each of the care packages. They need to be screened because sometimes people write things that are NSFW. The woman who was working on the notes that day told me a colorful story about one of the most touching notes she had ever read. She spoke of how the writer expressed their thanks for everything the soldier was doing for the country…It ended with the woman offering to make a personal dinner for the soldier and offering to make a special “desert,” for them when they got back stateside. Unfortunately that note got tossed. I mean what better way to express your love for our country. In my opinion, it is much better then wearing American flag suspenders.
Operation Gratitude – Justin's Experience
Project gratitude, an organization set up to send care packages to soldiers, unfortunately had a mishap with the 5hr energy drink in the packages exploding on the ride from D.C. On this day everyone was sorting through each care bag and sorting all the items of the bags where the 5hr energy hadn't exploded. The bags that were tainted with a 5hr energy that didn't make the trip were put to the side and any items that weren't ruined were cleaned and sorted.
We walked in and met Charlie who welcomed us and put us to work. He was really nice and even said we could take some 5hr energies if we wanted, since they weren't sending them out in fear they would explode again. So after the kid who was also at our table helping decided to go for one, I figured why not? WORST IDEA EVER! On a side note, the 5 hr energy is supposed to not have a crash. Turns out they are right, you feel like absolute crap for 5 hrs then at about the five hour mark you finally start feeling good again. So, drudged out on caffeine and shaking like I had Parkinson's I continued my work and our group flew through boxes, sorting away like there was no tomorrow. In between sorting we were constantly fending off our Mr. Patriotic supervisor who was a bit trigger happy on taking or sorted boxes kept coming by and telling us we were inefficient. He was a nice guy and did constantly thank us for our work, we just felt like we were by far the most efficient group and it just gave us what we needed to work that much faster.
Project Gratitude is a great cause, but unfortunately like most other volunteer work there are day where you are really busy and have many people to talk to and days that feel like you are sitting on an assembly line doing a repetitive motion for hours and hours. This was one of the later days. I'm looking forward to helping them out for their big shipment preparation in early April when there should be many more little projects to help out. It was still fun to hang out, and the work wasn't that physically demanding. So if you have a group of friends and want to hang out and talk while helping out a good cause, give it a shot, but you might want to skip on the 5hr energy shot!
Operation Gratitude is a great organization that works out of the Van Nuys National Guard Armory and sends out care packages to troops in conflict zones overseas. The organization has already sent out 320,000 they all include nice little gifts along with personal letters from caring people. There are many ways one can help out. You can help put the packages together, assist with labeling or by writing letters. There is no sign up process or lengthy set of paperwork to fill out before you can start helping. For more info on how you can get involved visit Operation Gratitude.Operation Gratitude – Zach's Experience
When I arrived, Justin and I met up with the director of volunteering named Charlie. He was very friendly and told us real simple instructions. Take out these five hour energy drinks from the care packages and then separate all the contents. So pretty much they already had these packages put together but they were completely ruined by these stupid energy drinks. We are talking tens of thousands. Turns out they burst in transit and got all over many of the other
contents of the care packages. They would soon become the bane of my existence. First of all, why are we giving this type of crap to our soldiers overseas? It is like poison. It is bad for you and gets you all tweaked out. Is this what we want to give our guys out on patrol. These were really tiny bottles… but somehow they managed to squeeze in enough warning information you would think they inscribed the Aeneid on the side. Oh well, all I can say is, I am glad that we were taking that garbage out of their care packages.Justin and I were examples of efficiency. We hauled ass and separated things faster then anyone had ever done in the place. Then after a couple hours rolled in “Mr. American Flag Suspenders Guy.” Operation Gratitude…More like Operation Attitude. To tell you the truth I didn’t even mind working with the guy who was doing community service for the hate crime he committed…but “Mr. American Flag Suspenders Guy,” to be henceforth known as, MAFSG was terrible. Instead of being friendly and introducing himself to us, like everyone else had done, he came over and immediately told us we were doing everything the wrong way. However, he never told us his correct way of doing things. Everyone else was telling us what a good job we were doing. I hate saying anything bad about a community service organization but I can’t let this go. We went to Operation Gratitude with the best of intentions and myopic pseudo Grinch was constantly over our shoulders and grabbing things from us instead of just letting us get work done. It truly seemed like this was his way of hazing us. Luckily he was only there for about two hours. In my opinion it was two hours too long. It got better after that.
One of the coolest aspects of the whole program is the personal notes that go along with every package. At the armory when I was walking around there were boxes and boxes full of handwritten notes from adults and school children. If I were to go back and help out I feel that is what I would want to help with. All the letters need to be screened and put in each of the care packages. They need to be screened because sometimes people write things that are NSFW. The woman who was working on the notes that day told me a colorful story about one of the most touching notes she had ever read. She spoke of how the writer expressed their thanks for everything the soldier was doing for the country…It ended with the woman offering to make a personal dinner for the soldier and offering to make a special “desert,” for them when they got back stateside. Unfortunately that note got tossed. I mean what better way to express your love for our country. In my opinion, it is much better then wearing American flag suspenders.
Operation Gratitude – Justin's Experience
Project gratitude, an organization set up to send care packages to soldiers, unfortunately had a mishap with the 5hr energy drink in the packages exploding on the ride from D.C. On this day everyone was sorting through each care bag and sorting all the items of the bags where the 5hr energy hadn't exploded. The bags that were tainted with a 5hr energy that didn't make the trip were put to the side and any items that weren't ruined were cleaned and sorted.
We walked in and met Charlie who welcomed us and put us to work. He was really nice and even said we could take some 5hr energies if we wanted, since they weren't sending them out in fear they would explode again. So after the kid who was also at our table helping decided to go for one, I figured why not? WORST IDEA EVER! On a side note, the 5 hr energy is supposed to not have a crash. Turns out they are right, you feel like absolute crap for 5 hrs then at about the five hour mark you finally start feeling good again. So, drudged out on caffeine and shaking like I had Parkinson's I continued my work and our group flew through boxes, sorting away like there was no tomorrow. In between sorting we were constantly fending off our Mr. Patriotic supervisor who was a bit trigger happy on taking or sorted boxes kept coming by and telling us we were inefficient. He was a nice guy and did constantly thank us for our work, we just felt like we were by far the most efficient group and it just gave us what we needed to work that much faster.
Project Gratitude is a great cause, but unfortunately like most other volunteer work there are day where you are really busy and have many people to talk to and days that feel like you are sitting on an assembly line doing a repetitive motion for hours and hours. This was one of the later days. I'm looking forward to helping them out for their big shipment preparation in early April when there should be many more little projects to help out. It was still fun to hang out, and the work wasn't that physically demanding. So if you have a group of friends and want to hang out and talk while helping out a good cause, give it a shot, but you might want to skip on the 5hr energy shot!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Project Angel Food
Grading
Ease Sign of Sign up
4/5
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
2/5
Fun Factor
4/5
Info:
Address: 922 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702
Phone: 323.845.1816
Hours: 8AM - 5PM
http://www.angelfood.org
Time Spent
8AM - 1:30PM February 5th, 2009
Pictures
Cut the crap:Project Angel Food is a volunteer organization geared towards providing meals for those who are home bound due to illness and unable to prepare meals for themselves. It was originally set up to care for HIV/AIDS patients but now cares for people with Cancer and other debilitating diseases. It was started in 1989 and since it’s conception, has prepared and delivered more then 3.4 MILLION meals. To find out more about Project Angel Food click on the link.
Personal Experience:
We arrived at 8 in the morning for a quick orientation from Vesna, the volunteer services manager, about Project Angel Food’s purpose and explanation of proper food handling. It included a pretty funny video that was not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. With the orientation out of the way we got killer lunch lady hairnets, latex gloves and aprons. In the kitchen we met up with Juan, the head chef of the day who was in charge of making the day’s meal happen. There were at least 12 other volunteers already helping out with meal preparation. We were thrown right into the mix and started throwing bags of frozen veggies in metal containers for the vegetable dish. Everyone who was working was very friendly and eager to help us get our bearings. In a short amount of time we learned the layout of the kitchen and where everything was kept.
After we finished up the veggies we split up. Justin went on to the meal assembly where the meals were packaged. He got to work with two cute girls who did not want to talk to him. Zach went on to slice and peel up onions with a gentleman who was all too eager to talk. Then it was off to cutting and peeling carrots. Everyone was easy going and they let us know we could take breaks whenever we wanted. All they ask is that you wash up before you get back to work. We both did a lot of other little tasks to help out and then it was on to dicing up all the onions for the next day’s meal. Sitting there crying next to each other was quite the bonding experience. It should be noted if we wanted to do something else we could have just asked. If there is anyone who does not feel comfortable doing a specific task they can always ask to do another.
With the day’s meals completed and the next day’s outgoing meal prepared we were ready for lunch. It should be added that the chefs volunteer as well. The chef who was volunteering the day we were there was previously voted best chef of the country. Our meal was delicious. He made us amazing lemonade. All in all it was a great experience.
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