I want to thank all the students who were generous enough to volunteering their time over the holidays and participated in the 2011 SOMA Unity Project. Special thanks to the SOMA Foundation for generously providing a grant to fund the project at Crittenton Children’s Center. Without the support of SOMA volunteers and the SOMA Foundation, these projects would not have been possible.
On Tuesday, December 27, SOMA volunteered with Food and Friends in Washington, DC on Food and Friends prepares, packages, and delivers meals and groceries and provides nutritional counseling to more than 2,800 people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses throughout Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. After a brief orientation and donning some very stylish red hairnets, we were quickly put to work by Alex and Joe, two full-time Food and Friends volunteers. We set out organizing and bagging groceries to be delivered to the clients, paying close attention to nutritional needs and dietary restrictions. During our time at Food and Friends, we stuffed over 300 bags of groceries. Lynne Ellison, a second-year student from VCOM, said that it was “really great to unite so many different schools together for such a great cause.” We all had a great experience and accomplished a lot.
From December 27-30, SOMA members were able to participate in the AOF Human Touch Student Leadership Project volunteering with the St. Bernard Project to help rebuild homes in the devastated St. Bernard Parish in New Orleans, LA. For details of how this project went, stay tuned for new from the AOF. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the project scheduled for Wednesday, December 28 at Three Square Food Bank in Las Vegas, NV was cancelled. While we are disappointed we look forward to the possibility of volunteering with Three Square again in the future.
On Thursday, December 29, SOMA volunteered with Crittenton Children’s Center in Kansas City, MO. Crittenton Children’s Center serves the mental and behavioral health care needs of children, adolescents, and their families. We held a Hollywood Movie Day for approximately 35 adolescent residents, complete with a red carpet and “Walk of Fame” stars for each resident to decorate. Though initially skeptical about doing an “arts and crafts” project, the residents quickly warmed up to the idea and had fun with it. Some even decorated multiple stars to give to family and friends. Next, we watched the movie Finding Nemo. Afterwards, we held “SOMA’s Movie Mania Game Show.” Residents formed teams and competed against each other in movie trivia categories featuring Disney movies, movie music, and movie posters, to name a few. The winning team was awarded with miniature Oscar awards. The project was quite a success and a wonderful experience.
