December Blog
December Hours: 8
Total Hours: 12
It's hard to believe that the semester is over in 24 hours! The last few months have been a wild ride as we all discovered what New Orleans and Tulane had to offer. I'm typing up this post as a break from being absolutely buried in flash cards from the GI/neoplasia module. I think everyone was very excited for this module as cancer medication is some of the most well funded and cutting edge research out there right now.
This month, I was able to volunteer at two locations- a community kitchen where instructors teach people from the community to cook recipes and a food pantry where food was given out.
The community kitchen was a unique program that teaches people how to cook healthy recipes that are easy on both effort and time. It was a program that lasted about two months and each session had a different theme behind it. Attendees would be each responsible for one or two dishes, then all the food would be brought together for a discussion and a feast. As volunteers, we helped prepare the kitchen stations, assisted attendees as best as we could, and cleaned up afterwards. The day I attended, the goal was cooking recipes with low amounts of salt. Among things like portion sizes and nutrition, the instructor talked about salt and how while it can be used for flavor, there are ways to significantly reduce amounts while still resulting in a very flavorful dish. This is important for people who have salt restricted diets due to disease conditions like hypertension. All of the food was really good too! It really underscored the objective of the program, which was to provide people with the knowledge and tools for daily mindful eating without sacrificing flavor or variety. Unfortunately, this was the last session for the program this semester- I really wish I came here sooner!
The food pantry was a different kind of experience, where pre-approved people come in once a month to receive groceries. It ran from 8am-1pm and I was able to do various things throughout. It was in this warehouse-type building where food was stocked against the walls and tables were set up in a circuit for people to walk around and receive a full spread of groceries. I was tasked to help set up in the morning and then hand out food while making sure grocery items didn't run out anywhere. I would also intermittently loop around the entire floor to look for empty boxes and trash that piled up. I also got to move heavy things around with a pallet jack, which was pretty fun to use. When we opened, there was a huge rush and it was pretty hectic trying to keep everything going. After a couple hours, it calmed down significantly and people would come in every few minutes instead of all at once. I had a lot of fun meeting other volunteers there and will definitely go back in January.
Both of these volunteering opportunities were enjoyable, and I liked them because there was always something that needed to be done. In the beginning, we needed to be directed by the staff because we weren't sure how to help but after a little while we got into the flow of things and worked as a team to make sure everything was running smoothly. Not to mention I was able to fulfill my dream of entering a walk-in freezer this month at both the kitchen and the food pantry!
Total Hours: 12
It's hard to believe that the semester is over in 24 hours! The last few months have been a wild ride as we all discovered what New Orleans and Tulane had to offer. I'm typing up this post as a break from being absolutely buried in flash cards from the GI/neoplasia module. I think everyone was very excited for this module as cancer medication is some of the most well funded and cutting edge research out there right now.
This month, I was able to volunteer at two locations- a community kitchen where instructors teach people from the community to cook recipes and a food pantry where food was given out.
The community kitchen was a unique program that teaches people how to cook healthy recipes that are easy on both effort and time. It was a program that lasted about two months and each session had a different theme behind it. Attendees would be each responsible for one or two dishes, then all the food would be brought together for a discussion and a feast. As volunteers, we helped prepare the kitchen stations, assisted attendees as best as we could, and cleaned up afterwards. The day I attended, the goal was cooking recipes with low amounts of salt. Among things like portion sizes and nutrition, the instructor talked about salt and how while it can be used for flavor, there are ways to significantly reduce amounts while still resulting in a very flavorful dish. This is important for people who have salt restricted diets due to disease conditions like hypertension. All of the food was really good too! It really underscored the objective of the program, which was to provide people with the knowledge and tools for daily mindful eating without sacrificing flavor or variety. Unfortunately, this was the last session for the program this semester- I really wish I came here sooner!
The food pantry was a different kind of experience, where pre-approved people come in once a month to receive groceries. It ran from 8am-1pm and I was able to do various things throughout. It was in this warehouse-type building where food was stocked against the walls and tables were set up in a circuit for people to walk around and receive a full spread of groceries. I was tasked to help set up in the morning and then hand out food while making sure grocery items didn't run out anywhere. I would also intermittently loop around the entire floor to look for empty boxes and trash that piled up. I also got to move heavy things around with a pallet jack, which was pretty fun to use. When we opened, there was a huge rush and it was pretty hectic trying to keep everything going. After a couple hours, it calmed down significantly and people would come in every few minutes instead of all at once. I had a lot of fun meeting other volunteers there and will definitely go back in January.
Both of these volunteering opportunities were enjoyable, and I liked them because there was always something that needed to be done. In the beginning, we needed to be directed by the staff because we weren't sure how to help but after a little while we got into the flow of things and worked as a team to make sure everything was running smoothly. Not to mention I was able to fulfill my dream of entering a walk-in freezer this month at both the kitchen and the food pantry!
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