Internet Technology Service Learning Spring 2007

The American Red Cross   The American Red Cross was founded on May 21, 1881 by Clara Barton   An organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education throughout the United States   Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations   Largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation

Kappa Sigma and Red Cross Blood Drive  On March 29, 2007, Kappa Sigma and The American Red Cross hosted a blood drive  Everyone expects blood to be available when we need it but only a fraction of those who can give do  Your blood will be sent across the world to those in need, including overseas to the military  America is always in need of blood, so donating your own is an easy way to save someone’s life

Why I Chose To Give…  I chose to donate my blood because I love helping people, and what better way to help someone than potentially saving their life?  It was a very scary experience, and I almost passed out twice, but it was definitely worth it  I would donate again because I felt so amazing afterward  I felt really cool for about a week

Lowndes County Animal Shelter  The Lowndes County Animal Shelter is committed to building lifelong bonds between people and animals through education, community outreach programs and the prevention of cruelty  One of the primary goals of the Lowndes County Animal Shelter is to protect the public from stray or dangerous animals  In order to prevent the cruelty of animals, they operate an animal shelter for homeless, unwanted and abandoned animals  The shelter also offers a service for families to adopt healthy animals

How I helped…  The shelter can be extremely busy with families and helping new pets, so they do not always have time to spend with the animals  They have a big yard for the dogs to play in, and my job was to take them out to let them run and use the bathroom

These are two of the adorable dogs available for adoption This is Rocket and he is a Border Collie mix This is Emmie and she is a Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever mix

My Experience…  I chose to volunteer at the animal shelter because I enjoy playing with animals  Dogs are my favorite animal, so I thought playing with the dogs at the shelter was the perfect place for me to complete my service hours  I could tell that the puppies really loved playing outdoors, especially when they ran and played with each other

YMCA Challenger League  The YMCA offers the Challenger, an organization for those that are mentally challenged  The League offers a variety of sports for the young people to get involved and meet more children their age with the same disabilities

Where The Events Take Place…  The Challenger League meets every Monday at 6 PM at the Vallotton Youth Complex  Anyone can participate! All you need to do is sign a piece of paper!

How I Participated…  Most of the children are aware of how to play sports, but some need a little extra help  We played softball, and I helped by catching the balls and throwing them back to the pitcher  All of the children are extremely sweet, and most of them are VERY talkative This is Philip. He is an older member of the Challenger League and one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

 And this is JP  He is very feisty and also a big time player  I was trying to get him to take a picture, but he wouldn’t until his friend Teresa was in it  He even told another volunteer she couldn’t be in the picture because he wanted it to just be Teresa and me

How The Challenger Influenced Me…  I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the children and older adults of the Challenger League  Every one of them is hilarious and there was never a dull moment during the softball game  Sometimes handicapped and mentally challenged children need extra help in everyday activities (such as softball) and I’m glad that I was there to help  I would volunteer to help with the Challenger again because I genuinely had a good time, and I want to make a difference in at least one child’s life

Why Community Service is Important to Me…  I really enjoyed working with the animals at the Animal Shelter and the children involved in the Challenger  Community Service is a way to show your community that you care, and a special way to give back  Every needs to get involved in their community because it shows what kind of character you have and it looks good on resumes  I felt so good about myself every time I was done helping the community  I will definitely participate in community service events in the future

The End!