This weekend, snowstorm Jonas turned Stockton into a winter wonderland! Although the school had our safety in mind when recommending our evacuation from the campus, those of us who remained on campus had a great time enjoying the long-awaited winter weather. My friends and I built snowmen, trekked to Lake Pam to see the water, and of course drank plenty of hot chocolate to keep warm! I was so thankful that my mom reminded me to get a new winter coat; however, I couldn’t help but think of our homeless population that isn’t as fortunate. For most, the snow is a time of play and fun.

The Honors Program encourages service throughout the year and the winter weather is among the greatest hardship that the homeless population has to face. The Covenant House –an organization which deals with displaced youths– and the Red Cross –which often runs coat-drives to support the veterans– both contribute massively to alleviating the burden of the cold for those less fortunate. When I get home, I’ll certainly be sorting through my jackets and donating as many as I can.

Today, during my Honors: The Global Community class, Dr. Rosner came and did a group service learning meeting. I know that there will be semesters ahead in which I have private meetings to set up my service goals; however, I do look forward to the future classes I’ll have in which the group service learning initial meeting will act as a substitute. I really loved hearing what everyone was dedicating their time to this semester and I got to hear about a lot of different service projects for the first time.

Some organizations weren’t so unfamiliar, such as Circle K. I worked with this group at Stockton’s Day of Service and loved the various projects that they had going on! Now that I know I have a classmate who works regularly with Circle K, I know who I can contact when my class-work lightens and I find more time to volunteer. I thought today’s group initial service meeting was a great way for me to learn more about my fellow Honors students while additionally providing me with more resources to access in my future service endeavors.

While I loved attending the “Get Involved” fair in the fall, I was really looking forward to the Spring fair to see if I had missed any organizations that I could be a part of. A lot of the clubs I noticed this time were culturally-oriented, which didn’t really open up any new clubs to me; however, I did see the tables for the organizations that I worked with in the Fall semester which encouraged me to reach out and continue my efforts on the Argo staff and Stockton’s student-run organic farm.

Regardless of how many classes you’re taking or how many challenges you plan to overcome this semester, there’s no harm in signing up for the email lists for Stockton’s clubs during the “Get Involved” fair because the influx of updates on your Stockton email help you stay connected to the club’s activities that are usually open to the whole community. Meaning even if you didn’t become an active member like you anticipated, you can still know about upcoming events that are about your topic of interest and that are still available to you!

Tabling for the blood drive was my second service fulfillment. I decided to table because I don’t fit the physical requirement to donate blood. Many people –most commonly females– under the necessary height and weight requirement cannot donate blood to the organization; however, I viewed this as a challenge to find other ways that I could get involved with helping the organization. Monetary donations are always a little hard to produce on the broke college lifestyle so volunteering my time to the tabling process and encouraging those who are eligible to donate seemed to be a perfect fit for me.

When someone donates blood, they are essentially donating life. Just a single blood donation has the power to save someone, or even several people. One person’s blood can be separated into components of red cells, platelets and plasma, all of which, have individual uses. Patients with specific conditions sometimes only need certain components of the cells and are saved daily by the donations of everyone throughout the world who gives. The Red Cross supplies 40% of the nation’s blood supply and I’m proud to know that fellow Stockton students are a part of that amazing percentage!

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, me and fellow Honors students attended to join the day’s events and contribute to our community. Because I attended the Day of Service in the Fall, I was excited to see what activities would be at the Spring’s Day of Service. Among the many organizations, each with their own service-based projects, my friends and I decided to partake in the projects organized by Circle K because we heard about the activities they had scheduled for the day.

There were two different sewing projects going on, each heading to their own destination. Heart surgery is very trying process that leaves the patient emotionally and physically drained. One of the projects was to make pillows for those recovering with fabric and stuffing. We loved making something that we knew would facilitate the recovery for someone suffering.

The second project was another sewing activity; however, this time, the recipients were newborn babies! These small baby toys were for newborns to facilitate the parent-baby bonding process were the two we took part in. As I was sewing the details onto the baby’s toy, I realized that I was becoming part of another life. When the baby’s box of earliest things are gathered together, encased with love and sentiment, their first toy would be one that I made. Forming a connection with a family I would otherwise have no relation to, I sewed as many baby toys as I could and will hopefully be making more in my own time that I can donate!