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April

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April hours: 4 Total hours: 16   This month I volunteered at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry. It was not as busy as usual, but there were still plenty of people who approached us for food and utilities. It was more labor intensive than usual, but I do not mind that in the slightest. After double bagging dozens upon dozens of bags, I filled them with food and utilities, making sure to partition the food as best as I could since the food donations have not been coming in as they used to. I would make sure to add in some extra nutrient dense foods if there was a family, or if they were not able to come the following week. I also assisted with carrying boxes of food and utilities from the back and stocking the shelves with whatever we were lucky enough to find. As luck would have it, Amazon has continued to donate bags of useful accessories to go along with the food donations. The community really seems to enjoy these Amazon bags, so it’s always a pleasure to hand them out. As al
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March

I volunteered at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry this month, where I once again packaged food as well as essential appliances and utilities and handed them out to anyone who approached us for help. It was discouraging to see that the food donations have lessened significantly once again, but I didn’t let that stop me from packing out the food bags as much as possible. I was careful in how I partitioned the food packages because I wanted to make sure everyone who approached us received what they needed and were able to have the right amount of nutrient dense foods to keep them healthy and full throughout the week. I really enjoy volunteering with everyone at the Food Pantry, they are always very welcoming and eager to help. I will definitely continue to volunteer here, well after the pharmacology program has ended. I have seen so many people come to us for help, and then return a couple of weeks later. It is very clear that this food pantry is an important and vital place for them t
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February

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I participated in the charity event for Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry. This is a very important charity to the community because they help to give food and supplies to those who are struggling. When I arrived, I was happy to see that the food donations have increased. The shelves were full and people were pulling up in cars full of food to offer donations. I helped to carry in the food donations and stocked the shelves, while also packaging nutrient-dense foods and basic utilities into bags to give out to anyone who approached us for help. I was surprised to see that Amazon donated a large number of bags containing baby products, and products for the elderly. The Amazon donations also contained items such as toothbrushes and moisturizer. I made sure to add those to the food bags as well, and the people who received them were very happy about it. As always, I also helped to carry in boxes that were stored in the storage unit, unpack them, and add them to the shelves as well.   I f
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January

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This month I once again volunteered for the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry. The amount of people I see approach us for food is so substantial that it gives me the drive to continue volunteering at this location. We packaged nutrient dense foods such as cans of vegetables and fruit, pasta, and tuna, among many others. We also added other basic necessities, such as shampoo bottles and moisturizer. When I returned to volunteer, it was upsetting to hear that the funding had been decreased. There was not as much food to package for each person as we usually had, and it was disheartening to hear many of the people ask why they were not getting as much food this time around. We did our best to provide what we could but there needs to be more awareness when it comes to donating food and supplies. It was raining very hard the day I was volunteering, and it surprised me that there was still a line of people waiting to pick up the packaged food. Even though there was not much to give, I am still
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November

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November hours: 4 Total hours: 12 The activity I participated in was volunteering for the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry. I consider this to be very important because there are a lot of people who go throughout their day without food, and making sure there is somewhere for them to go, especially around the holidays, should be of vital importance. Tuesdays are usually their busiest days, so I was glad that I was able to find the time to volunteer on this specific day. As usual, we packaged food into bags and handed them out to those who approached us. We usually get trucks full of food donations on Tuesday, so I was able to help the other volunteers to carry the many boxes into the building, unpack them, and stock the shelves. All of the donated food was packaged and given away within four hours. While there was a lot of food donated, I believe that there could have been more if there was more awareness about food donation in the area. It was nice to see that the donated food were from
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October

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I volunteered at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry where I packaged food and items for those in need. Each bag contained soup, pasta, canned vegetables, shampoo bottles, wet wipes, and diapers among many others. After they were packaged, they were handed out to those who came to our location and requested a bag for either themselves or their family. We also packaged separate boxes for the elderly that contained additional nutrients and items that would benefit them. I considered this important because there are a lot of people who do not receive the help and support they need, and I believe it is critical that they have some place to go when they have no one else to turn to. Before we started, I underestimated the amount of people that were going to approach us for help. On both occasions that I volunteered, the food bags were handed out almost as fast as I could fill them. When I first entered the facility, I did not think that we would be able to package all the food that were on t
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September

The transition from New York to New Orleans has been a bit bumpy, but everything seems to be smoothing out as the days and weeks pass by. I packed up my belongings and made the 1,360 mile drive within three days and two nights. I have been spending my free time exploring the city, and I am enjoying it immensely. Everything seems to move a lot slower here, but I am getting used to it!   I have signed on to volunteer at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry during the first two weeks of October, and I am very much looking forward to it. I will be packaging and delivering food to those in need, and providing help in any other way I can.   I have learned a plethora of new information throughout the first month of the pharmacology program. As of now, we have only completed three modules, with the first being a Basic Principles module, the second an Inflammation module, and the third module was Infectious Disease and Cell Biology. I was very interested in learning about the last two mo
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