Advisory Programs Reflection

The advisory programs consisted of the Turkey Dinner Program for CACCI and the Dress A Live Doll program for Salvation Army. I have never organized any community service like this before, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to practice doing work for the less fortunate around me. I had the goals of effectively raising the money to buy the items needed for the turkey dinner and the Dress A Live Doll gifts, shipping them off on time, and simply feeling satisfied for making somebody's holidays a lot better. I thought these goals were appropriate and not far-fetched. They were all achieved.

I basically planned and organized both of these programs. From day one, I set goals for the advisory and quotas of food or money to be brought in. I assigned jobs to each person and delegated responsibilities, while at the same time bringing in money and food myself. I played a very active role in the collecting of food and money for the Turkey Program, and in the collecting of money and the buying of gifts for Dress A Live Doll.  The two programs were complete successes. We packaged a great turkey dinner for a needy family and bought tons of clothing for a young boy who otherwise would receive no Christmas presents. I was incredibly happy with myself that I could complete service projects like these and be such a positive and giving presence in the community. It really felt good to give to those less fortunate, and I was satisfied with my contribution. 

The activity was very valuable because I got experience in raising money and doing service for the community. It also obviously benefited others because the advisory collected food and gifts for those less fortunate. I really learned a lot from this activity. For one, I learned how to be a leader and organize a service program. I learned how to interact with the other people doing the programs with me and correctly delegate jobs and tasks. Teamwork was essential to the completion of these two programs. I also had to learn how to overcome difficulties that arose during these programs. Some of the members of the advisory did not participate or were not enthusiastic about doing service. We really needed help from everyone, but when some people didn't want to contribute, the rest of the advisory - including myself - simply picked up the slack and worked harder. I also think these two programs helped developed my aptitude for developing and planning service projects and helping out the community, which could be beneficial for my future if I choose to join the Peace Corps or something similar.
 
I really enjoyed doing this activity and I think that these two programs were great service projects. I had a lot of fun and feel proud of myself for donating my time, money, and effort to the less fortunate in the community. It really meant a lot to me to help those in need because my family has suffered times of financial instability when it would have been great to receive aid from the wealthier people in the community. Now that my financial situation is stable, it was great to give to those who might be in a similar situation to the one that my family was in. 

This activity met learning outcomes 3, 4, and 5. It met learning outcome 3 because I had to plan and initiate both of the programs. I organized who would do what, when the items or money was due by, and when we would shop for the Dress A Live Doll program. It met learning outcome 4 because even though I acted as the leader and sort of planned the programs, I still had to worked collaboratively with the other members of my advisory to achieve the desired result. If it weren't for the help of everyone, we wouldn't have been able to collect food or gifts for the less fortunate. Finally, it met learning outcome 5 because I persevered and stayed committed to the activity from the first day to its completion.