De-constructing mattresses, long division, all in a spring’s break

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Some things have definitely changed for the better. Take spring breaks. Not too many years ago, spring break meant nothing more than recreation and not studying. Now, especially at JMU, it has an entirely different definition.  Every year thousands of students fan out to lend their hands and hearts to change parts of the world.  JMU’s Alternative Spring Break program is well known, but it’s not the only one at the university. I told you Monday about Alpha Phi Omega‘s work with Clean the World. That was  part of their week. Today I want to share with you junior Amanda Schott’s wrap-up. I think you’ll be impressed. I sure was! Here’s what Amanda reports:

I worked with Orlando’s United Way to set up an amazing week of working with several organizations in Orlando and surrounding areas. Overall, it was an incredible experience, and we got a chance to reach out and help so many individuals within the Orlando community, as well as meet the inspiring individuals who work for these organizations and learn about what the organizations mean to them. I could really go on forever about our spring break trip. Here’s a synopsis of what we did.

APOs at Camp Thunderbird

On Monday we worked with Quest’s Camp Thunderbird, a summer camp for all ages, 8 to 80, who have disabilities. Both U.S. and international students staff the summer camp. This year two of the sessions will include people with and without disabilities in order for the individuals to learn more about those who differ from them. We worked with Rosa and Rob, both amazing people, to help mulch and clean up the camp in order to get it ready for the summer. The stories we heard about camp were inspiring, and I know I am personally going to look into seeing if I can volunteer for a week in the summer.

Tuesday, we started the day working with UCP, which stands for United Cerebral Palsy, a school that assists children with disabilities to help them develop educational and motor skills. The school accommodates students up to college prep and works closely with UCP to have some of their students also attend college. The program is absolutely amazing. It tailors its teaching to each child’s need. The stories of these children and their progress is remarkable. We helped paint a surrounding wall, which was covered in graffiti, helped mulch the garden around the school, and we were even given a chance to participate in a classroom and interact with the children themselves. The children were amazing and every different type of learning ability was met. That afternoon we went to Easter Seals, a program for retired adults to go during the day and do different activities. We interacted with and got to know the residents. As I played bingo and dominoes with Gary, I learned he grew up in South Africa. In Harrisonburg, we volunteer at Bridgewater Retirement Home. I think it is amazing the things we can learn from the stories that elders have to share. All they need is someone to listen.

Wednesday we started off the day in the Second Harvest Food Bank. Orlando has one of the highest rates of hunger especially seen in Children. The food bank helps provide relief, including donations from companies such as Wal-Mart, Target, Publix, etc. The food is distributed to different organizations such as Mercy House and Salvation Army, to name a few. This organization was extremely welcoming and incredibly organized. We were given the task of sorting through boxes and checking the conditions of the food, as well as checking the expiration dates and sorting them into boxes by the categories: snacks, dry foods, cans, jars/bottles, water, and other non-water drinks. The task was fun. We were constantly busy and running around and enjoying each other’s company. We also got a nice little bit of Karma I guess you can say. We met the residence life coordinator at Rollins University who invited us to the university for lunch. We finished Wednesday at the Walt Disney Boys and Girls Club, a facility that serves mostly minorities living in the area. Although the program fee is $15 a year, no child is turned away. The program really strives to help these kids stay off the streets and lead productive lives by giving them all the promise to get into college and achieve their goals. We interacted with children from K-12 and spent the day with them, first helping them with schoolwork. I helped a girl, Quantra, with her long division, which I actually had to re-teach myself, but she helped me to remember those rusty math skills. We had free time to play games, and I learned a new hand clapping game, which apparently I’m not fast enough at. The kids also had gym and an arts and crafts class. The club was incredibly organized and amazing thing to watch. All of us came out with different experiences based on the age group we worked with. I don’t think anyone wanted to leave when our time was up. The kids were just incredible, and I know at least I learned so much from them.

Thursday was the day we worked with Clean the World. In addition to scraping soap, I learned there of other ways to help out such as raising money to buy soap. You can also collect soap and pay for shipping yourself, but since soap is heavy this could amount to a lot. I hope to continue to help this amazing organization from JMU. After some consideration and reflection about all the service we did this past week, I am going to talk to my brothers in Alpha Phi Omega about organizing a day where we can pass out flyers and explain the organization to hotels in the Harrisonburg area. An hour spent talking about the organization to a hotel could lead to millions and millions of donated soaps, which is something that could continue long after I am finished at JMU.

We spent our last day in Orlando with The Mustard Seed Organization. This Organization helps supply clothing and furniture to families who do not have any. Essentially they help people turn their house into a home by setting up a warehouse to resemble a store. Each family that is referred to them has the opportunity to walk through and collect furniture, toys, and paraphernalia including clothes that they need. MSO really tries to make this a great experience for the families by allowing just one family in the warehouse at a time to “shop.” They try to create the most store-like atmosphere. We moved furniture, organized and folded clothes and deconstructed mattresses — part by part — so they can be recycled and remade into new mattresses. We had to cut the mattress apart layer by layer. This was labor-intensive, tiring work but incredibly rewarding!  A JMU ASB trip had been there on Monday and set a record of deconstructing 39 mattresses in three hours. We saw this as a challenge! Seven of us deconstructed 57 mattresses in two and a half hours. More than 100 mattresses were done by the end of the day.

We truly enjoyed our entire week. I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to go to Orlando and work with such incredible people. Service is a large part of Alpha Phi Omega’s daily life, something we are all incredibly passionate about. I was lucky enough to be able to spend this week bonding and serving with 19 inspirational, kindhearted and compassionate people.

To learn more about JMU’s Service Learning Center, go to their website:  http://www.jmu.edu/csl/index.html