One of the first events I attended here at Stockton was there annual day of service. Honestly, I almost did not go because of how early in the morning it was. I struggled to get myself out of bed, but I had been registered for weeks now and was so excited about it just the night before. The free breakfast, coffee, and t-shirts after registration definitely made me feel so much better. Just a side note: the little apple muffins with the crumbs on top that they have whenever they give away breakfast for an event, are so delicious that I actually wrote them down on the “pros” side of my pro-con list when picking a college. I had five that morning. By the time I was awake to function most of the tables were filled and people had already selected their activities. Colleen and I found a spot together working for the A-heart organization.

A-Heart is a small place that offers help and support for mothers with financial troubles. The people who worked there were very nice and helpful. It always amazes me when a person can stay positive despite the awful things they see each day. We volunteered to help organize their thrift shop. I was very excited about this, because I had spent a summer volunteering at a church thrift shop, so I thought the previous experience would help. The tiny little store was extraordinarily unorganized, and the lack of space didn’t help. We removed a lot of summer clothes to hang up fall clothing. The goal was to make the place look as nice and as organized as possible. We wanted the mothers shopping for their children there to feel like they were in a real store. Box after box were brought down to us from the storage room, and after hours of work we had found a place for every article of clothing, and organized it all by item and size. It looked amazing when we were finished, and I could not have been more proud.

I hope our work helps A-heart. They do an amazing thing, and I was happy to contribute to the work they do each day.