Jamie Hughes- Service Learning Log #2

For my second service learning experience I delivered food with Katie and Jessica. Coming into this delivery with a previous experience, I knew what to expect with the client to volunteer interaction. I met the girls at Project Angel Heart because I didn’t need to listen to introduction again (and I was running a little late). This time we had five deliveries and around eight bags. As we looked at the map, this area of our deliveries was to the west. The first street we drove down was barricaded off by at least five cop cars. And I knew we were in the not well off part of Denver. I made two deliveries on this shift. The first house had a fence around it and they yard a little messy. We knocked and it took a while for this frail, older lady to come to the door. The sheet had warned us about that. She asked us the place the groceries on the table so we did. She thanked us and we left. At the second house, there were some guys outside and they asked us if we needed any help and we told them we were alright. This house was a duplex, and a guy answered and kindly took the groceries. As we left the neighborhood of the five houses we took a detour through downtown by the capital building and then headed back to DU.

During this shift I looked at Project Angel Hearts clients differently. I got a new outlook on volunteerism. These people were kind and very appreciative. They thanked us with smiles on their faces. The first time I volunteered, I only did to one house giving me a very restricted outlook on the type of people Project Angel Heart serves. This second time, I saw the positive aspects about the organization and how much the volunteers are appreciated. From this experience, I learned that for these people, maybe seeing one or two new people a week delivering food is a great moment in their lives. This shows that someone cares about their health and their well-being. I learned this by reading their facial expressions. I could tell by their attitudes that the food they were receiving was needed and helping them to live a better life. This is important to me because I know that this food is needed for some reason or another and that this helps them to live each day. Even through volunteering isn’t about me and my personal happiness doesn’t dictate if I volunteer or not, but I did enjoy this positive experience more than my negative one. Knowing that my time was given to a person or family that was appreciative of what I have just done for them means a lot to me. When somebody gives you something or does something nice for you, it is standard to say thank- you. I feel that even though Project Angel Hearts clients have been dealt a bad hand of cards, it still is their responsibility to show respect and courteous to their volunteers.

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.

Service-Learning Log 2 -- Shaun Snowden

On May 9th, Project Homeless Connect took place at the Ritchie Center at DU. It is a program that provides resources to thousands of homeless people in the surrounding areas. People can come to find resources that would otherwise be scattered throughout the city, and that they may not be able to seek out due to a lack of money or transportation.

I arrived at 8 AM to receive my training. I had signed up two days before and had missed all of the training dates. After signing in, I went to my training session, which was remarkably chaotic and informal. It consisted of a woman standing amid a mass of people of people in gold shirts, yelling out the same information repeatedly. The “training” session served as a basis for us to sign our waivers. Then we were set loose to figure things out on our own. My nerves were tightly wound as I went to take my place in line. I had no idea what my specific role was. I did not know what to expect, nor what was expected of me.

The line of volunteers extended down the stairs on the North side of the Ritchie Center, wrapping around the corner. The image reminded me of the multitude of people waiting for Obama a few months ago. The droves of volunteers astounded me; I could not believe how many people were there to help this event. I had expected maybe a hundred people to show up. The turn out blew my expectations away. I have never been part of such a large event.

As I stood in line, I began to talk to the woman that was standing behind me. She had heard about PHC through her work. She said to me, “I feel like it is a great way to give back,” viewing it as an opportunity for a rewarding experience. Again, I was amazed that this project seeped so far out into the community. This woman was volunteering and she had no affiliation with DU. After talking with her, I felt like I was in for a positive and rewarding day.

The first busload of homeless arrived, and I was shocked by what I discovered about myself. I found that I tensed up, suddenly nervous at the prospect of spending the whole day with a homeless person. I was as tense as someone would be if a homeless person approached them on the street, begging for money. What would we talk about? Would it just be drawn out and awkward? What would they think about me? I was shocked that I had such an ego in this situation. I had a lot to mentally overcome and I had to do it quick. I found that I did allow my mind to embrace stereotypes—something that I had not realized before.

A coordinator came from the bus, pushing a man in the wheelchair. He caught my eye and indicated that he would like my assistance. I got out of line and proceeded to help Stephen, the man who I would be paired with for the rest of the day.

I was given a clipboard with paperwork to fill out. The questions seemed very personal. It caught me off guard. At project Angel Heart, the volunteers are given almost no information regarding the people that they assist. Here I was asking questions regarding where he lived, his Social Security Number, and other invasive questions. I was sure that some would seem offensive, but Stephen took the questions like a champ and did not act surprised by any of the questions.

The medical center was our first stop. While we waited for assistance (PHC is really a lot of waiting in a series of lines), we talked about his history. This conversation fundamentally shifted the way I perceive the homeless. Initially, I had a hard time supporting the actual cause of PHC. My parents had always made comments regarding the homeless as I grew up like, “Get a job. I worked hard for my money and they live off of the money of others. ” I had perceived being homeless as a choice. But Stephen proved me wrong. Every time he had made progress in the direction of getting more control over his situation, misfortune would strike. He lived in an assisted living facility for three years. He accidentally bounced one check, and they evicted him. He feels unwelcome at the place where he lives now because of his handicap. When he was at a temporary shelter, he was carrying cash. He put it in his locker, and someone managed to steal it.

He was able to walk up until a couple of years ago. He slipped on some ice and made it to the hospital the next day. They did an X-ray and found a vertebrate completely shattered. Because of advanced osteoporosis, nothing could truly be done to help his situation. Now he can only stand for a maximum of ten minutes. Bad luck completely handicapped this man and took away any chance of fixing his situation.

But for a homeless man, I was also surprised to find how together his situation was. He was enrolled in Medicare/Medicaid and received a pension from the government. He knew what he specifically needed. He had specifics that he was looking for answers for. He needed help figuring out how to get a specific ID. He was also trying to figure out how to get an electric wheelchair. I felt like he knew more about how to get his life together than I did about mine.

We went from one area to another and finding the answers to his questions, but it was slightly disheartening. Every answer was merely a referral to someone else who was supposed to know the answers. I was amazed at the resources that the day offered, but the resources only sent him back into the world with only a slightly better idea as to how to better his situation. I wondered whether or not it was all worth it.

At the end of the event, we had a follow up survey. It asked questions that analyzed the program and looked for ways to make next year’s PHC more successful. I asked him what he considered to be the best or most helpful part of the program and he said, “I was amazed by how helpful you were.” That gratitude and that instant made me feel like I really could make a difference and it was enough to win my commitment to the event next year.

In one day, this event had managed to shift my perspective on the homeless. I learned a lot about myself. I found that I do hold some prejudices that I need to overcome. I took a journey outside of my social comfort zone and a spent the day with some one I had never met before in a confusing situation. In the end, I felt that I truly made a difference in someone’s life.

Megan Sullivan service learning log 3

Service Learning Log – kitchen shift
Marisa, Jaime, and I left campus at 4:30 to arrive at Project Angel Heart at 5:00, however traffic was rather slower than we thought, so we arrived a little late. We walked in and Tom directed us where to go and what to do. He was very good at giving directions, so he must do it quite often with new volunteers in the kitchen. There were already six or seven other volunteers already there, filling soup containers and labeling desserts. Tom instructed us to get our hands washed and put on aprons. He then showed us how to chop celery. We got our own large knives, a cutting board, and a couple buckets of celery. We began chopping very slowly, trying to emulate what Tom showed us; he made it look extremely easy. We had three large buckets that we had to chop and thankfully three other people joined us, or else it would have taking us hours to finish.
As far as interacting with other volunteers, we were eventually joined by three other volunteers who we found out were also DU students. They were all part of Sarah Pesson’s class that we might interview for our final paper. We talked to one of the girls from DU; she was a junior and a Biology major. Two other older volunteers joined us to chop onions, but seemed to know each other well and were having a conversation between themselves and didn’t interact with us students really.
After finishing the celery, there wasn’t any other food preparation to do that evening, so he had all of us students polish the cooking equipment and sweep out and mop the walk in refrigerator. Because we were volunteering the night before Dining Out For Life, Tom said there wasn’t much other work for us. After we were finished with the cleaning, we left at about 7:00.
From my observations, the staff members at Angel Heart consisted of Tom, who I think was the head chef and two other professional-looking staff, one of which I noticed had a Johnson and Wales chef’s coat on.
It was interesting to note the differences between doing Saturday deliveries and working in the kitchen. In the kitchen, it seems that one can form more relationships with people because you are working closely with them and there is much more potential to make friends. Unless you complete deliveries with other people, it seems to be a more solitary volunteering endeavor. With deliveries, you get to interact with clients a little, but are limited to hellos and other small talk. It is very clear that you are not to interact with clients very extensively.
This was my last time of required volunteering at Angel Heart, and I enjoyed it as much as delivering meals. However, because you don’t interact with the clients while doing the meal preparation shifts, the volunteer dynamic is different and as a volunteer, you feel something very different compared to meal deliveries. Working in the kitchen seemed to be all about the community aspect with the staff and volunteers. When people come on a regular basis, they can share stories, give advice, and joke around while chopping vegetables and ladling soup. I guess I feel that because I only went to the kitchen once, I missed out on that community aspect of the experience. However, I guess I did gain a glimpse into what the dynamic of the meal prep shifts are like, which made me want to go back to volunteer.
After reflecting on my time, I feel like I would’ve liked to contribute more hours of volunteering toward Project Angel Heart, but transportation is an issue, and the quarter is about over. I know that I didn’t volunteer enough to make any connections with the staff or other volunteers there and I feel a bit guilty that I only went a couple times as part of a requirement. I feel like I have a lot more to gain in volunteering experience and hope to be able to volunteering there in the future.
I also participated in Dining Out For Life on Thursday night. My mother was in town and she took a group of friends and I out to the restaurant WaterCourse. The food was extremely good and the restaurant was very busy for a Thursday night. We had to get reservations for 8 o’clock because they were so busy with customers participating in Dining Out For Life. It was awesome to see the amount of people that came to support Project Angel Heart.

Mills, utilitarianism, and the public good

We have been discussing with the readings by Aristotle and Mill what it means to be a good person, how to do good in this world and what that means. In the John Stuart Mill reading about utilitarianism, he explains the fundamental idea that utilitarianism is based upon the creed that accepts “utility” or the “greatest happiness principle”. It asserts actions are “right” if they tend to promote happiness, “wrong” if they tend to produce the opposite of happiness. Applying this concept to service work, how should an individual act to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number? Is there anything that he should avoid?

Relating to our service work, he also states that “poverty, in any sense implying suffering, may be completely extinguished by the wisdom of society combined with the good sense of and providence of individuals.” Do agree with Mill when he says that poverty can be extinguished? What do you think he means he states that this is important because “every advance in that direction relieves us from some, not only of the chances which cut short our own lives… which deprive us of those in whom our happiness is wrapt up”? Do you think Mills philosophy is flawed in any way, and how so?

-Marisa and Megan

Service Learning Log 2- Austin Pollak

My initial experience with Project Angel Heart was beyond a doubt one of the most defining experiences of my life.  From delivering food to people that are blind to people that very obviously have life inhibiting illness, I knew that I was performing a civic good.  Project Angel Heart is unlike any organization that I have volunteered for in the past.  Form the training to the actual delivery of the food, you feel as though you are part of the experience, part of the people’s lives that you are helping. 

From the moment that you walk through the prep kitchen and into the training room, people with big hearts and loving souls surround you.  When Russ walked in, the first thing that came to my mind was that he is a larger-than-life teddy bear.  His personality appeared to be affectionate and his love for his job was contagious.  During his speech he informed us about what Project Angel Heart does, how to deliver the food, and the policies that we needed to follow while performing the deliveries.  The most profound thing that I remember him talking about had to do with the directions to the client’s homes.  Aside from just containing instructions on where to deliver the food, the paper also had tips for what to do when we got to the house.  Some of the tips read, “knock then wait for a little while.”  I thought this was so unique because it really showed the type of relationship and care that Project Angel Heart establishes with its clients.   Once we finished our training session we went back into the kitchen to receive the bags of food that we were to deliver.  It was fascinating to watch the kitchen staff pack the bags of food and organize them by the delivery route.  It was like a highly synchronized orchestra in terms of their systemization and effectiveness. 

Once we received the food we preceded to the car to begin the deliveries.  The delivery of the food to the “clients” was absolutely the most interesting experience of Project Angel Heart.  The first delivery that we made was to a man who lived in apartments east of Colorado Boulevard.  We had a lot of trouble finding his apartment within the complex, but nonetheless, we were eventually able to find him and deliver the food.  The first delivery was somewhat awkward and uncomfortable.  I did not know what to expect when the man opened the door, I was unsure of what to say, and how to hand him the food.  When he opened the door, all of my preconceptions and stereotypes of the types of people that Project Angel Heart helped were quickly replaced.  Aside from walking slowly, the man that we delivered to appeared to be like anyone else.  He was engaging in conversation, lively, thankful, and just had a pleasant demeanor.  Contrary to what I initially believed, people with HIV, AIDS, and other life threatening illness are just like everyone else. 

Our next delivery was to a man that lived in another apartment complex.  This delivery contributed to my preconceived stereotype of the types of people that Project Angel Heart helps.  The apartment complex that we delivered to was worn down, smelled musty and like fresh paint, and was located in a less developed part of Denver.  When we got the man’s doors his neighbor told us that he was not home right now.  Following procedures, we called Project Angel Heart to inform them so they could follow up to insure that he got his food.  His neighbor insisted on taking the bag of food to hold on to until he returned home.  At this point, all that I could think about was the possibility of his neighbor taking the food and not actually giving it to who we were tying to deliver it to.  With this fear in mind, we had no other choice than just to leave the food outside the man’s door. 

The next delivery stop of significance was to a lady that lived in a small lower income community.  The homes were nothing more than tiny square structures placed on cement foundations.  They were so small that I was astounded to see that one person with all of their worldly belongings was able to live in such a small space.  What made this delivery the most interesting aside from the homes, was the fact that when I approached the house, the lady that we were delivering to had just woken up from a nap and was shirtless.  A complete stranger, a lady that I had never met exposed herself to me.  I was terrified!  The training session at Project Angel Heart does not train you to handle with this type of situation!  After this whole debacle simmered down, I approached the door to give the lady her groceries.  She obviously had a serious illness because she had no hair on her head and her scalp was different colors.  Aside from this, she appeared to be able to get around decently and was extremely friendly.  She was so gracious of what we were doing that she inspired my heart and touched my soul with her praise and thanks. 

After we finished all of our deliveries I returned to the dorm and reflected on my experiences with Project Angle Heart and my encounters with the type of people that I helped.  After my initial service learning experience with Project Angel Heart, so many of my preconceived stereotypes of people with illness had been reshaped.  I came to understand and realize that people with life threatening illness are in no way different from anyone else, aside from the obvious effects of their illness.  All of the people that we delivered to communicated and interacted with us absolutely normally.  From this experience, I also felt as though my understanding of civic involvement was redefined.  I used to think that civic involvement was just doing the petty activities of an organization that no one else wanted to perform.  This however is not the case with Project Angel Heart.  At Project Angle Heart the volunteers are totally immersed into the organization and perform an integral part of its operations.  Without the volunteers, Project Angel Heart would not exist.  As a volunteer it is a good feeling to know that so much rests on your shoulders and depends on your commitment.                   

Service Learning Log 1- Austin Pollak

Dining Out For Life only reassured my by belief in the ignorance and lack of compassion within society.  All the hype and excitement surrounding the Dining Out For Life fundraiser made it appear to be more grandiose than was my experience with it.  From the moment that the event started to the time that we deposited the money at the police station, I was unimpressed by the turnout and amount of donations that were given.  I can only hope that my experience was unusual and that the fundraiser as a whole was tremendously successful.

For the dining Out For Life fundraiser, Karen Friedman, Michelle Kwan, and myself choose to represent Project Angel Heart at Chez Jose, a whole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Cherry Creek.  From the moment that we walked into the restaurant I knew that fundraising was not going to be easy.  We had virtually no support from the management or wait staff, and to make matters worse, there were not many customers in the restaurant.  Another difficulty in the fundraising that I had not considered was that the location of the restaurant mattered.  As I reflected on the experience it occurred to me that one of the reasons it may have difficult to raise money was due to the types of people that frequent restaurants in Cheery Creek.  From my previous encounters with citizens of Cherry Creek I was able to determine that it is an upper class community where people tend to keep more to themselves and are very introverted.  Realizing this, I would have approached the dinners differently in order to get them to donate money. 

Once we entered the restaurant and introduced ourselves to the staff, we set up out equipment and met as a team.  We discussed what we were going to say, how we were going to approach the people eating, and how we were going to sell the product.  Once we devised a plan of action we began to approach the customers and inform them about Dining Out For Life. 

I am reluctant to admit that I was unable to receive any donations from the customers.  As a matter of fact, all the people that I approached were rude, inconsiderate, and ill tempered.  I had people tell me that they were not interested in dining Out For Life, and that they were not going to donate because they did not want to give out any personal information.  These types of remarks infuriated me.  After many failed attempts, I decided to let Karen and Michelle take over.  It was amazing to see how people respond to girls in a more proactive and cheerful manner.  Karen and Michelle approached the customers, informed them about what Dining Out For Life is, and then almost effortlessly either got a donation or talked the customers into taking the envelope to consider donating.  After several hours of this, we were able to raise some money, albeit not a lot.  The encouraging thing about fundraising though is that every bit helps. 

When we delivered the money to the police station all of the Dining Out For Life staff and volunteers were overwhelmed by our commitment to the fundraiser.  The funniest part of this whole process though was the fact that they could not stop talking about Michelle.  The wanted to know how Michelle did, how much money she raised, if people recognized her, and so on.  Despite this, it was rewarding to know that we had helped to made a difference in the lives of so many.