Service
Project
N+S
Karen Truong
UC Irvine
Every year, Circle K’s from all over Southern California come together to make a difference in a community for the District Large
Scale Service Project.
This year, our 2013 DLSSP South Chair, Kathy Dong, brought 400
Circle K members to help, MEND Poverty and Youth Speak Collective. MEND assists low-income families to create a pathway of
self-reliance through providing basic human needs and services
while Youth Speak Collective focuses on youth and empowerment.
After a mini brunch of bagels, we were broken up into groups
to be sent out around the community to help at 6 other locations
where Circle K members made blankets, boo-boo bunnies and
aprons; planted trees, packaged food at the food bank, had a college day with teens, and hosted a health fair for the community
kids at MEND with a book and hygienic items drive to be donated
to the teens and children of MEND and Youth Speak Collective.
I was stationed at the Food Bank of MEND Poverty for the day.
Along with my group members, we went through 3-4 crates filled
with canned foods and imperishable goods to find unexpired and
edible foods. Once we found a good can or box of food, we would
place in its specific box. On the shelves of the food bank, there
were certain boxes with specific type s of food. This system helps
MEND be more organized for their customers and staff to find
specific items more efficiently.
After a good 6 hours of service, the community was thrilled
with how much we had accomplished and for me personally, regardless of all the hard work, seeing the smiles from the Circle K
members and the coordinators, was worth it because I was able
to make a good impact and make a person’s day. Hope you are
ready next year to impact another community with our services!
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