Summer Alternative Break

Once Upon A Time In Appalachia

Want to do service and enjoy the beauty of Appalachia this summer? Alternative Break Coordinators at IUPUI are organizing a Summer Alternative Breaks trip.

Applications will be sent out soon.

 When is this trip? June 21-25, 2012

 Where will we be going? Once Upon A Time in Appalachia
                                               4100 Timber Wood Rd.
                                                Maryville, TN 37801

What will we be doing? 

Volunteers will be housed in the Once Upon A Time facilities and get a chance to help in all the focus areas of this organization: Cherokee Indians, the environment and rural Appalachian mountain farm life. On Friday the group will do trail work in the Cherokee National Forest with the rangers and local volunteers. On Saturday volunteers will attend the festival at Sequoyah Museum to commemorate an important date in Cherokee history. Sunday there will be homesteading projects – working in the garden, splitting firewood, making blackberry jam, etc.
 

Is there more information?Volunteers can find more information about Once Upon A Time in Appalachia online.

To visit the facebook page! Click Here!

To visit their website. Click Here!

Who do you contact?
Taylor Pennell, Summer Breaks Coordinator
tpennell@iupui.edu

Bittersweet Day

Bittersweet Service Day was Friday, April 20.  One of our groups served at Indy Urban Acres, located east of 21st Street and Shadeland Avenue.  This was the same service site visited on César Chavez Day of Service.

Ben Spandau and Katy Frantz led the group in filling 24 raised beds with dirt.  They also beautified the
garden area by mulching around the raised beds.  The four hours of work was tiring.  Everyone had aching limbs from shoveling and wheelbarrowing the dirt and mulch.

The garden will provide fresh produce to food banks around Indianapolis so that produce can be picked in the morning and served on a plate in the evening.

For more pictures from other sites visit Volunteer at IUPUI on facebook.

Work at Indy Urban Acres

Raised Beds getting set up at Indy Urban Acres.  

Faithful volunteers tearing stickers off of the raised beds.  

Taking off stickers was harder than it looked

Volunteers shoveling dirt into the raised beds.

The group with the finished product

Leaders in Service: Fernanda Agnes

The ServiceCorps at IUPUI  have been covering social issues this year. Fernanda Agnes and two other members, Chris Huff and Gabby Mendoza, researched the topic of youth. Although that may seem general, Agnes and her teammates broke it down into three specific topics. Agnes let us know in a Q&A session why she chose this topic.

Fernanda Agnes, member of the IUPUI ServiceCorps

Q: What made you decide to cover youth?

A: I decided to cover social issues involving youth because I believe that the youth of today is the future of tomorrow. Therefore if we invest in their well-being and education, perhaps we will see a better world for the generations to come after them.

Q: What specifically about youth are you focusing on when covering this social issue?
A: The topic Youth is very broad social issue. As Service Corps Leaders we were paired in groups that share the same social issue for each month. Within my particular group we all felt a good personal connection with different specific issues that involve youth and especially children. One of us focused on children with disabilities, another person focused on youth hunger and homelessness.


For me, I am particularly concerned with the level of education given to the young generations.  Considering so many different hardships some of our children suffer these days. Having a meaningful and quality education is key for all of them to develop into adults who are confident on whom they are and that they are just as great as anyone else.


In order to accomplish a world of equal opportunities for all, we need to give our youngsters the tools to develop themselves and consequently go after all the existing opportunities out there, and even create new opportunities. When children are offered good education and support, they will grow up to be a strong person no matter what other types of adversity they had to deal with throughout their childhood. We need to give every child the certainty that they matter, and we believe in them. So they can “be” the bright future they aspire to be!

Q: What organization are you serving at that help youth?
A: I have worked with charter schools in Indianapolis that deal with the specific issue of offering good quality education to underprivileged children. The work they do is amazing! I grew up in a society that had a very strong mind set toward the fact that children who go to public schools will not have the same chances as the ones that are privileged enough to afford private school.


I wanted to grow up and prove that we all have the capability and suitability for all the same opportunities if we apply ourselves to it, and most importantly, if we have someone to tell us at a young age that they believe in us. So watching these schools being so passionate about giving all the necessary tools for these children to succeed, regardless of their current social or economic situation, is a dream come true to me! The first step to growing generations that don’t feel they “need” to rely on welfare because the society may believe they are doomed to failure if they were born into a family that has little to no economic power, is to empower every child.

I volunteered one day in one of these schools, coming in to talk to children from kindergarten through fourth grade about my college experience. It sounded odd to me at first, but once I was there, having a conversation with all these kids about what they expect from college and seeing that unlike me at that age, they know they have the chance to get higher education, and they are encouraged to do so, made my heart beat faster! To see their little eyes shining because some stranger cares enough about them to sit down on the floor and just give them the attention that is so vital in building their confidence was priceless. I had the most caring hugs on my way out!

Q: What can you do, as an individual, to help with this issue? Is it something that applies to your major?
A: This issue doesn’t really apply to my major, but it is close to my heart. So I will always do anything within my reach and beyond to support quality education and empowerment for children.

Connected to Service

The helpindyonline.com flyer



Today is a short, informative post for those wanting to serve in the the Indy community.
Helpindyonline.com is a website that can connect volunteers to organizations that meet their interests.

Visit the site and let us know about your experiences.
Help Indy Online

Cesar Chavez Day of Service

The day of service that the Sam H. Jones Community Service Scholars have been planning for the past few months was this past Saturday, March 24, 2012.

Volunteers for Cesar Chavez Day of Service planted 66 fruit trees at Indy Urban Acres.

Tyler Gough, the director of IUA, was pleased with all the work that was accomplished and the heart of service volunteers showed.

"It was fantastic, unbelievable," he said, "It was super muddy out there and everyone was great and more than willing to work in the mud."

Because of rain on Friday the holes volunteers were digging would fill with water. That didn't stop them, in fact some volunteers said they enjoyed the challenge.

"I knew it (the service day) was going to be good, but I didn't think it was going to be that good," Gough said.

He said he appreciated the individuals that expressed an interest in serving during the summer, and he looks forward to meeting many more volunteers from IUPUI.

  
You can follow this link to Fox 59 website: Fox59 News at Indy Urban Acres

Leaders in Service: Ben Spandau

We had a Q&A session with one of the service leaders at IUPUI.  Ben Spandau, along with two other leaders researched and presented on the issue of domestic violence.




Ben Spandau

Q: What made you three decide to cover domestic violence?
A: We really decided which issue to cover by choosing which month worked best with each of us and were assigned an issue.  The choice was really not much of a story but I have taken this opportunity to learn more about the social issue of Domestic Violence.  

Q: What organization are you serving at that helps those suffering from domestic violence?

A: I worked with the Salvation Army's Shelter for victims of domestic violence.  We helped paint, clean, and build storage shelving for their children's play room.


This service helps the children who have been affected by domestic violence to have somewhere safe and clean that they can play and receive educational life lessons.  This allows the family to either seek therapy for their issues or time for the mother to find ways of keeping her and her children safe and self-sufficient.


We all had a lot of fun and learned a lot about how the Salvation Army helps those who have experienced domestic violence.  I encourage everyone to volunteer at the Salvation Army shelter to further their knowledge to this important social issue.

Q: What can you do, as an individual, to help with this issue?
A: The first thing that you can do is to educate yourself on the social issue of domestic violence.  Knowledge is power when it comes to this issue.  Most people who are in an abusive relationship and experience domestic violence do not accept or see that they are.  Others are unable to escape the abusive relationship that they are in.  


Being knowledgeable of the issue allows you to identify the action or symptoms and effectively guide those in need.  The other thing that I would encourage someone to do to get involved is to volunteer at local domestic violence shelters such as the Salvation Army or Julian Center.  They are always in need of volunteers doing anything from painting a wall to playing with kids or even just stuffing envelopes.


Just remember, no matter how small or insignificant your service may feel like, you are changing someone's life.

Q: Any other comments or experiences you want to share about this issue?

A: I understand that finding the bright side to this issue is a hard thing to find.  Domestic violence is a very hard issue to take in because it is very depressing and hard to see.  We must take it head on though or it will continue in greater proportions.  


No matter how hard something is, we must strive to make this world better for everyone who is in need of our help.  Our luxury is our ability to help others to attain those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Random Acts of Kindness Week

Last month we celebrated National Random Acts of Kindness Week.

Tables were set up with Kindness Challenge Cards. We designed and printed entire decks of cards with ideas for being kind. Each suit represented a different category and the challenges grew progressively harder to do as the rank of the card increased. A few examples are listed below:

Clubs: People you know
2 – Send a compliment someone’s way
A – Call a mentor to say thank you

Hearts:  For those Unknown

2 – Smile and say hello to a passing stranger
A – Sign up for the bone marrow registry (more information at www.marrow.org)

Spades: For our Community & World

2 – Pick up a piece of trash on the ground and throw it away
A - Start a piggy bank for a cause that’s important to you and donate it to them once it is full

Diamonds: For yourself

2 – Be spontaneous for the day
A – Stop negative self-talk: “I’m not good enough, too fat, not qualified, etc.”

We also did a Flash Mob of Kindness

We gave a bouquet of flowers to three random people.
We gave one flower at a time, until they had a full bouquet.

Here are the marvelous volunteers for the Flash Mob of Kindness



One recipient of the bouquet of flowers gave us a great reaction.

We will be posting videos of our Flash Mob of Kindness later. Keep a look out for it.