Service Learning Log 3-Laura Reinman

Service Learning Log 3-4/29/08, 2.5 hrs

When we started out for this meal prep shift, I felt ready for whatever. The traffic was bad and I couldn’t wait to get there and feel the fresh air. Walking into the building was much different than my first time. For one, I was with Bob and Hannah and there were other volunteers there as well. Joy showed us to the sink and we all washed up and secured our aprons. When Tom came out, all I was hoping for was no soup duty and nothing where I could draw blood (because I think I would if given the opportunity). Luckily, Tom assigned us the ever so difficult job of folding tortillas into fourths and placing them in a plastic bag. It was a lot easier than scooping soup. It was also more fun because I had people to talk to. Talking made the work go fast at first. In fact, I thought that we would be done within an hour, but I was wrong. It seemed like every time I looked up, there were more boxes of tortillas waiting to be folded. Eventually, Bob and Hannah took a nacho break but I was still full from my snack marathon earlier that day, so I stayed with three other volunteers. I talked to them a little bit. It seemed that the two men and the woman knew each other. They explained that the same volunteers end up working together on their regular shifts. The woman said that they came to help every other week. They asked about school and where I was from. They were very nice and seemed interested in what I was saying, which can be rare in adults. The night went on and finally there were not as many tortillas awaiting their fate. We finished and started clean up. I helped sweep and untangle washed aprons. In about 10 minutes, the kitchen was clean and we left.

This shift made me think about relationships. My first shift at Angel Heart was difficult because I didn’t know anyone. Having relationships makes things more familiar. Walking in to Angel Heart for the second time, I knew I would see Tom and Joy and Brad. Beyond that, I knew I was with two of my classmates. Working together and being nice to each other, makes things go so much more smoothly. It makes me think of our discussion about social capital. Forming relationships with people is important for production. All of us were there that night preparing meals. We might have all been there for different reasons and we might not all click perfectly, but we were all there working. The adult volunteers I met were nice to me (and I to them) and it made folding those tortillas together go so much easier in a variety of ways. It went faster because we were focused on conversation rather than the tediousness of our task and it made the work environment happy and comfortable. So, although some people’s main motivation for working with Project Angel Heart may not be to form new relationships, it is at the very least a perk. In some cases, it can be the main motivation as well. When doing our volunteer profile, I learned that one of the big reasons she got involved was to find people to connect with in the Denver area. This makes it even clearer that positive relationships between people are important. I know this by the simple feeling I got going to my first meal prep shift alone, not knowing anyone, and the much better experience the second time, knowing people and being with people. This is significant to me because I will now try at any juncture I can, to be nice to people I meet. It is so much better for everyone involved and may benefit me somewhere down the line.