Today I participated in Stockton University’s Day of Service event for 2017. Before I begin, I want you to understand the importance of me going: First of all, report time was 8am; so that alone shows my dedication to the cause because Alayna Dilks does not wake up before 9am for just anything. I had to wake up super early on a Saturday morning, without any coffee in my system, but I will admit that it was all totally worth it.
To start off the event, my group of friends and I were making coloring books for the Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House is a charity that directly helps the families of children who are bound to hospital beds. This task was super important to me, personally, because this charity helped my aunt and her family with their housing situation when my cousin was ill in a hospital far from their home. Along with assembling the coloring books, we wrote inspirational quotes on the covers and added fun colors to it to try and be uplifting.
The second activity that we did was button making. This activity was created because September 10th is National Suicide Prevention Day. To participate in this activity, we wrote uplifting messages and colored with bright colors on pieces of round paper and they were eventually turned into buttons. While making the buttons, my friends and I just discussed the sadness behind depression and how our friends and families have been affected. Suicide is something that it not often talked about, so it was nice to put our thoughts out into the open regarding the topic.
The most important activity, in my opinion, was with the “Rise For Hunger” charity. At this activity, we all were put into stations and worked together to fill and package bags of rice mixtures. There is honestly no way to appropriately describe the event, because it was honestly a hoot. the event organizers also played loud music which made it really enjoyable. My job during the event was to weigh the bags of rice and make sure that they weighed the right amount. During the fast process, I was thinking about how many people this activity would directly benefit. At the end of the day, the coordinator of the charity announced that Stockton had packaged over 46,000 meals for the less fortunate. Hearing that number brought joy to my heart.
Yes, initially I had done the event for the honor’s service requirement and the free t-shirt(which I am currently wearing as I write this), but my heart and soul has changed since this event. I have learned to appreciate my life and to be thankful for what I have. I learned to be grateful for the way that I think and for knowing what happiness feels like. But I am also now aware of the sad reality that some people live in. Stockton University’s Day of Service is something that I thoroughly enjoyed and will definitely be apart of in the years to come.
