Community Service Project - Steven

 Hi, the community project that I did was in partnership with Table of Hope with Spring Street CDC. This organization participates heavily with communities that are in need of basic essentials and they are also partnered with other organizations that provide support to the communities. Currently, Table of Hope participates in a food drive with local pantries; they serve go-meals Monday-Friday in their main location which is in Morristown, NJ; on a weekly basis they also give free boxes of groceries to families, the boxes consist of produce, dairy/juice, dry goods, canned goods, and bread from local bakeries. The event that I attended was a food box pickup drive. They had different stations where volunteers would prepare bags that contained dairy/juice, dry goods, meats, etc. The bags were then placed for bundling, this is where I come in, my tasks were to assist in running (which is where we guide and assist people loading their goods.), I was in charge of premaking the boxes, I was short-staffed as the other teams had about 3-4 members and I was alone. I took the initiative to be more efficient by using a large bin and small cart to transport the goods from their prepping zone to the boxes and bags. By doing this, I was able to complete five boxes per trip during the time that it took to complete two boxes by only hand. I also assisted the leaders of the organization in translation; they were trying to increase sustainability by giving people reusable bags instead of cardboard boxes but had trouble explaining to the Latinx community to try and bring the bag next week. Table of Hope offers a walk-up, where we guide them and they then can take the goods they received home, we sometimes helped them carry it to a spot on the side so that they can order a taxi service; they also offer a drive up, where volunteers load their car up with the goods. The reason I chose this project is concerns that I have for the immigrant struggle in this country. While 50% to 75% of unauthorized immigrants file individual income tax returns, they do not receive any assistance from the government, and during the troubling times that we are, experiencing now the community needs our help. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am an immigrant and have the opportunity to help my community. I did have a few concerns regarding sustainability, the first thing I noticed when I arrived was the excessive use of plastic shopping bags. I approached the leaders in charge of the event and asked them if they were reused, but because of Covid, they stated that they were donated from grocery stores. I mentioned that there may be environmental benefits to switching to paper bags as they are more recyclable and easier to decompose, maybe they would be able to receive donations of paper bags. If they are unable to find a donor for paper bags, they can also include a printout explaining innovative ways for reusing the plastic bags, such as using them as trash bags for smaller cans, keeping the shape of purses and shoes that are in storage, use it as a trash bag in the car, wrapping plants for moving them around. These are just examples but there are tons of ways for reusing the plastic bags, instead of them being used once and then thrown out. Overall, the organization is able to help thousands of families on a yearly basis and they are able to provide networking opportunities with other organizations to help people find the help they need. Table of Hope with Spring Street CDC is a community-oriented organization that tries its best to assist the local communities in any way possible. I forgot to take pictures and videos as I was caught up in the moment.