October 10th 2016 Stockton held an afternoon of service. Commuters on the Go organized this event and allowed both commuters and residents to attend. There were three things that you could do to volunteer at this event. You could sew teddy bears for children with cancer, make heart bags for Mother’s Day at a retirement home, or make birthday cards for homeless children. This was a great event and a great opportunity to get involved and make a difference in the world.
The afternoon of service allowed students to do things to help other, but also had a reflection session as well. The people running the session said that each station represented a problem that people were facing. The problems were: homelessness for children, cancer patients dealing with the terrible disease, and the elderly not having a family to celebrate or visit on Mother’s Day. Each one of these problems were out of the person’s control and they wanted us to experience what it was like to have something go wrong as well. They made us write the person that was most important to us, an object that was most important to us, and a character trait that was most important to us on sticky notes. We then had to give those three notes to someone else and they took one and threw it away. The Commuters on the Go people then asked us how we felt about what we had lost, and had us reflect on what our lives would be like without that thing. The reflection session really opened my eyes to how truly lucky I am. I was so glad I was able to volunteer my time and hopefully make a difference in someone’s life.

On September 10th 2016, Stockton held its annual day of service. The office of student development, Circle K, and other local organizations sponsored this worthwhile event. This event had several different volunteering opportunities, such as Books Without Borders, Stop Hunger Now and making cards for terminally ill children. This event was a great example of how Stockton gives back to the community. There are many clubs that do community service, and this event was a way to meet several of them.
The day of service was very well organized and efficient. There was never a time where one of the events didn’t run smoothly. The Books Without Borders station was extremely well organized. My two friends and I enjoyed getting a lot of work done in a short amount of time because of the assembly-line-style setup. Making cards for the terminally ill children was very upsetting, yet very rewarding at the same time. Everyone hoped that the card would brighten up a child’s day. The stop hunger now section was like a Viking ship, where everyone rowed in unison. Dozens of students and volunteers churned away effortlessly as we created over 3,000 meals in only a half an hour. It was amazing to see so many people volunteer hours of their time and all connect over helping others.
I am happy that my friends and I decided to do that event. It was a great event to help out others and it was very well organized. Since this event is annual, I can see myself volunteering at this event in the future. I would recommend this event to anyone who is looking to make a difference in the community but doesn’t know how to go about it.

On November 15th 2016, Stockton held an afternoon of service. Commuters on the Go organized this event and allowed both commuters and residents to attend. This event was focused on making ornaments for senior citizens to hang on Christmas trees. We also made foam cut outs of different Christmas themed characters, such as Rudolph, Santa, and Frosty the Snowman.
The Winter Extravaganza, as the Commuters on the Go named it, was a lot of fun. Both Commuters and Residents were able to sing Christmas music and make ornaments. Although it isn’t quite Christmas yet, the event reminded everyone how close the holiday actually was. This event was great, not only because of the merriness spread by the activities and singing, but also because it was for a great cause. Often times the senior citizens don’t get to experience the joy of hanging up ornaments with their families during the holiday season. The other seniors at the senior citizen centers become a second family to them. The ornaments that we bonded over while making them as a group are the same ornaments that the senior citizens bond over while hanging them up. It is amazing to think about how two simple hours of singing Christmas music, joking around, and making ornaments can translate into making someone’s holiday. The Winter Extravaganza is an excellent example of the fun and helpful events organized by Stockton Organizations.