Student activity fund of the long island area council of unitarian universalist congregations

Michael Birk - Island Harvest

The work that I did correlates directly to what this company, as with many other companies, wants to become and that is larger. My job in a nutshell was to find all the stores and restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk that Island harvest has a relationship with and which ones they don’t. They will use this data to find out where to expand and how many more pounds of food they can get from participating stores. This was the first year out of the three working there that I felt the job I was doing was helping to expand their markets, so to speak. At this agency, I learned that with a few good people and a lot of perseverance they can take many small steps and in the end the only way a large difference can occur is first through small steps. Watching this agency grow over the last three years was wonderful to witness.

The experience I have had through this internship that was greatest for me was becoming more comfortable with conversations in which I ask for help. It has been pretty tough for me to speak my mind. I learned that asking for help is not a sign of weakness but just another opportunity to better oneself. This internship related to mainly two of the UU principles: The inherent worth and dignity of every person and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. For the former, every person no matter who they are, are unique and important to somebody. It is part of the principles that UU’s live by to understand that truth. For the latter, I feel that for someone, especially I, volunteering is a great way to search for meaning. It was truly a pleasant job working with these wonderful people and for this organization and I would gladly recommend it to anyone interested.

Peter Breiding - Winthrop University Hospital

This summer I volunteered for Winthrop University Hospital’s Oncology/Hematology pharmacy. I highly recommend the experience of volunteering for community facilities whose main goal is for the betterment and support of human society, be it at large or more provincial. The experience I talk of is one which imparts a sense of community enrichment that cannot be rivaled.

I was positioned in the pharmacy of the Oncology/Hematology portion of Winthrop. Whilst there, I performed duties such as: putting away, sorting and storing chemotherapy drugs, recording medication expiration dates, filing and pulling patient orders, filing system management, stocking saline and dextrose intravenous fluid, delivering chemotherapy medications to nurses, and other tasks that I could help with. My job was an eminent necessity to the hospital staff with which I interacted. My duties were integral in freeing up the pharmacists’ time so they could properly mix Chemotherapy, double check patient orders, and provide an overall better quality of care.

The principles and values on which Unitarian Universalism is based are strengthened and fully appreciated in the daily interaction between patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, deliverymen, etc. The “interconnected web” of our community is a dynamic one which is constantly being spun and re-spun. I am proud to have lent my aid to those in the community who make it their career to hold the fabric in place. From what I could surmise during my time volunteering, every staff member in the oncology/hematology department showed both their patients and colleagues the upmost respect and compassion. With regards towards their work, they showed devotion, ethics, and competence of comparable excellence. The pharmacists, nurses, and doctors I worked beside also taught me the pharmacology of chemotherapy drugs, how certain cancers behave and progress, and many other things pertaining to medicine I found genuinely interesting.

My summer’s work in the hospital this year was both gratifying and productive. My actions directly contributed to the physical well-being of other people in my community in a way that no other paid summer employment available to young adults in today’s society could accomplish. I am very grateful to the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock for funding the SAF grant program. I think it is highly rewarding for students to give back to their community as a means of employment.

Sam Bryson-Brockmann - Island Harvest

Island Harvest is a Long Island wide food rescue organization which helps to battle hunger in our most needy community. This incredible organization works everyday to distribute food that would otherwise go to waste, to soup kitchens, churches, and other distribution centers. Island Harvest has been my home partially or fully for the past three summers. Each summer I become more and more involved with the organization to the point that I feel I am a fulltime employee. I have become involved in every aspect of the organization, from political relations, to fundraising, to warehouse work, and to program directing. In my final year of eligibility in the Student Activity Fund, I know Island Harvest backwards and forwards.

This time around I worked mornings in the warehouse, packing and repacking foods to be redistributed. I worked with some of the most unique volunteers from all walks of life. Some were doing mandatory community service, some were working for government programs, and others had lost their jobs and were looking to help those worse off than they were. It became not just an experience of helping others but getting to know the stories of those around you who also had come along a path to do service. It was different than previous experiences where I was working alongside paid employees, and I began to realize that this is where the real work is done. Those who do back breaking box lifting and food packing just for the smile when someone comes to pick it up to bring the food to needy families. It was all the more enjoyable to work alongside people who had the same passion for service that makes this work so satisfying.

An important part of the work we do in the SAF program is our spiritual connection to public service, through Unitarian Universalism. We learned the seven principles in religious education classes on Sunday mornings, but we in the program live it in our summer work. My experience with the volunteers helped me to recognize the value of each individual who worked alongside me, many of whom I would have never crossed paths with. When the goal is to better your community, the work is so often effortless that it makes communication easier, to the point of compassionate conversation. Culminating in respect for my volunteering peers, the work at Island Harvest has not just sufficed my selfish needs as a stepping stone to my career but has satisfied my hunger for meaningful beautiful labor.