David Olson Service log 1

For my service-learning duties I went to the Project Angel Heart warehouse in order to do some food preparation to later be delivered to the clients of the organization. I went to complete my work with Rori and Jake. Unfortunately for us, none of us knew how bad rush hour traffic was going north-bound on I-25 around 5:30. So after arriving late they sent us to start skinning and cutting carrots. At first it was just monotonous work, but Jake and I decided to make things more interesting. Since we were situated in a way that Jake and I couldn’t talk to any of the volunteers we decided to have a race to see who could skin and cut the most carrots. Considering my skinning and cutting skills far exceeded Jake’s, I won with no problem. While this was going on Rori was able to be social and talk to the volunteers to our right. After the carrot cutting we were asked to pour soup into bowls that would later be frozen then delivered. Since Jake, Rori, and I decided to team up for this we were able to get quite a few soup bowls done. In fact, we did all the work so fast they decided to start clean up early since we had gotten everything done. For clean up I volunteered to take the trash out back into the dumpster. That only took a few minutes so I helped out mopping the floor. Then the day was done and we returned to the dorms and went our separate ways.
During this experience I was only able to talk with a couple other volunteers and try to get an understanding of why they volunteer at Project Angel Heart. The girl I was able to talk was actually more interested in whether I had done any deliveries. Since she had never done a delivery she wanted to know what it was like to actually meet the people. Considering I have never done a delivery I wasn’t much help to her. I found it interesting that there were other volunteers that were just as curious about actually meeting the organizations clients as I was. She said she found some self-satisfaction in volunteering for Project Angel Heart; that she was doing something that would actually have a direct impact on someone’s life. In that sense I completely understand her. Even though the work may have not been the most exciting work to do; afterwards I knew that I had actually helped prepare a meal for someone that couldn’t do it themselves. It made me feel good. I don’t always get the opportunity to help other people out, especially others that are complete strangers to me. It gave me a sense that I was doing something outside of my normal domain and it gave me a nice sense of satisfaction. Overall I got a good sense that I helped out in a way that will make someone else’s troubled life that much easier. I think it was a good experience and I am looking forward to the next time I can help out at Project Angel Heart.