This week has been very busy for me. I am trying to invite vendors to participate in our annual health fair next month. I can’t remember if I explained what this was or not, but basically a health assessment was done in 2009 just sort of asking and surveying the major health issues in each household. So the goal of our fair is to highlight the prevalent health issues recorded and provide resources, screenings, and etc. to help improve various conditions. I have made a deadline for myself that I am trying to meet. Fortunately, I have heard back from more than half of the vendors and they have all confirmed, so that makes me happy.
Twice a month FOP has a food distribution day and this past Wednesday was my first time taking part in the process. The food distribution is held in the community room of FOP and last a total of 2 hours. Every year a new application has to be completed in order to be eligible to participate in the food distribution. So throughout the day there were a lot of phone calls coming in from people asking whether or not they were still on the list to pick up food. I asked a lot of questions that day because I wasn’t exactly sure how it worked, but I caught on before the day was over.
Something I really like that Friends of Parkside has created is a resource called “Parkside Connected”, which is a way to receive community updates (food distribution day, volunteer opportunities, workshops, classes, giveaways, etc) via text, phone call or email. This particular day the message about the food distribution was sent late, but it was still a big success within the community. I sat at the sign-in table with William (another staff member) and together we tried to make sure the people coming in were already signed up and on the list and those who weren’t we asked them to complete an application. I loved having the opportunity to interact with people from the community. The highlight of this day for me was witnessing how grateful people were that this assistance existed, it was such a humbling experience and I loved every minute of it.
Also this week one of the interns from last year, Lauren, came to talk with me about her experiences working at Friends of Parkside. I am working on a different task than the one she was assigned last year, but we were still able to relate.
I think I have made great progress and my supervisor seems to be happy with my work, so that’s always good.
Until next time..
