poverty does not discriminate

PANTRY LAUNCH!

Today we launched the Food Pantry. It was not as successful as I would have hoped, however these things take time, and hopefully by the end of the semester we will be able to say that the pantry made an obvious difference in the lives of many at Schoolcraft College.

Today we began stocking the food pantry. The launch date is approaching and we have been receiving so many donations, that we wanted to make sure we did not wait until the last minute to prepare the pantry.

Gearing up for the Food Pantry launch has been quite hectic. There are also other things to be done as well, in the midst of collecting donations.


The 2nd Quarterly Report is due Feb 23rd
VISTA training is coming up in Detroit in 2 weeks

Spreading the word about the Pantry has become quite a task recently. I have learned that the best way to promote the program, is to physically attend events and hand out fliers and brochures. The half page article in the Newspaper will help as well.

My year-long VISTA project is underway. Our pantry is stocked for opening day. My main challenge was having the confidence that our students and faculty would come through with donations. Phi Theta Kappa has been such a blessing as well. They have added a "30 lbs or $30.00" donation item to their service list and the response has been great  for the first week. The Metromode is writing a story on Chris and I and the work that we are trying to accomplish here at Schoolcraft.The article will be posted by Thursday. I have already gotten emails from students and faculty interested in being enrolled in the program, or volunteering in the program. I cannot wait for launch date. We are looking to launch the first week after spring break which is the second week of March. Decisions are still being discussed.


Quarterly reports are due soon. MCC is hosting 2 webinars to help us while compiling our second report, since most of the VISTAs had some trouble understanding their expectations.

We also have MCC and VISTA member training in Detroit this month. Our supervisors will be meeting us there on the final day to do some group evaluating.





VISTA recruitment began in January and will be continuing. This means that I need to make a decision regarding what I want to do come July. I need to make this decision by the end of March. That is when new MCC host Campuses will be announced. I am hoping that I can discern what is the correct life choice for me.

The Empty Bowl Project:
 - The event was for the most part a success. We raised about $1,200.00 for St Leo soup kitchen and Crossroads of Michigan.
-  The extra ceramics that we have, are being stored in our office and hopefully we will be able to pull them out during Winter School Daze and raise some more money for the organizations.

Quarterly Report:
- The MCC office is asking all of it's VISTAs to edit our first quarterly reports so that they reflect more cohesive ideas of our first quarter. This edit is due next Friday Jan 14th, 2011

Food Pantry:
- The Schoolcraft  Student Food Pantry is about to take this semester with donations and new marketing developments.
- I will be giving a small overview of the plans for the Food Pantry at the Service Learning Group meeting next Friday Jan 14, 2011