Reflection from a Volunteer
Making Spirits Bright
By: Vashia Gordon. Lakeland College
"Hunger and food insecurity are real problems for Sheboygan County and Wisconsin families. Statewide, approximately 560,000 people live in households that are food insecure; that is, they do not have access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life" (1). There are a lot of people, in this state alone, that wonder where their next meal will come from. Food is vital to the human body as we live day to day. Abraham Maslow, professor of psychology, knew how important it was for people to have food in order to make it in society. He came up with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His Hierarchy states that one cannot achieve self-actualization without fulfilling physiological needs stage. The physiological stage is where 4,000 households stand in Sheboygan County, because of food insecurity (1).
Imagine these household getting the nutrition they need to make it in life. I feel that if they had healthy and proper amount of food the Sheboygan County can flourish and do more great things for their community. There are food pantries that try to provide for these citizens but as the economy fell it was harder for non-profit organizations to provide food for these families. Early Bird Rotary Club of Sheboygan realized this struggle and is going to make a difference, November and December 2012, during their program "Making Spirits Bright" at Evergreen Park. "Making Spirits Bright" will bring people from the community together as they donate money and food for the less fortunate. I am grateful to take part in something that will benefit the Sheboygan community; my community.
The way I am going to participate in this program, is by building a donation shack for the Early Bird Rotary Club. The shack is for storing non-perishable items. The shack was designed by fellow classmates' Jake Flesch and Jessica Rewald. Mr. Flesch came up with sizes of the wood boards used to build the booth. Ms. Rewald used her artistic creativity to come up with a gingerbread house design that would be appropriate for "Making Spirits Bright". This project was supervised by Steve Roelse, Core III professor at Lakeland College. Mr. Roelse can be contacted by email ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or by cell (920.946.0711), between the hours of 10am- 8pm every day. Along with supervising the class during this project Mr. Roelse provided us with material needed to get this project done. This included wood, paint, paint brushes, drill, and screws. Lakeland College's Charles Krebs, director of creative arts, provided us with space behind the Lakeland college stage and an electric saw.
April 11, 2012 is the day the CORE III: Global Conflict and Cooperation class started to make a difference in other people's lives, as well as each others. The first thing we did when we arrived to the scene was put primer on the wood so that the colored paint would show up on the wood better. After that, another student and I started to draw peppermints on the wood, while others drew windows and lollipop trees. Once we were done drawing these things it was time to paint. We painted the peppermints red and white, the lollipop trees green and red, and Gumdrop trees were red, green, and purple. After we got this all painted, the boys that were in charge of screwing the boards together told us that we had painted on the wrong side of the board. Luckily they did not have a big problem with it and unscrewed the boards then put them the correct way.
In getting this project done students ran into getting paint in their hair, on their hands, and some on their faces. People even dropped boards while trying to flip it over to paint the other side; okay, so that was me. We had a student and supervisor using strategic ways of fitting the roof on the shack, how much to cut away from the wood, and where to drill screws in to make everything stable and efficient.
This project was good for others to get to know each other better as well as a helping hand to someone in need. It brought people, who were before strangers, together and made them friends. I say this because in the classroom students do not have time to talk to one another and get to know each other better, but during this project I found out a lot about people and their lives. This cause does not just make the spirits bright for the people receiving the food but also people who have put time into making it happen. I always grew up hearing the best thing a person can give is their time, and I feel that this was definitely worth it.
Works Cited:
1. Food For Tomorrow. United Way of Sheboygan and Plymouth. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.