Veterans Village 2017

It is a strange Christmas, my first one without Abuelo, the first one being no one's granddaughter.  There are no small children around, and things are almost excruciatingly quiet.
That is OK, I'll take it; I kinda hated chasing toddlers around anyway.

This year my parents asked for us to give things in their name instead of giving them gifts.

Because I was born partially disobedient, I sent them books (thank you Amazon Prime) but I also bought things for the veterans at Veterans Village in their name to add to the pile of donations from my students, former student-veterans, and a few angels out there who know who you are.

Mom and Dad, you sent 5 warm fuzzy blankets, 6 large soft towels, and 6 pairs of slippers to the Veterans. Oh and something else, but I'll get to to that in a minute.

Students from AMH2020 and my WOH class brought donations from December 1 - 8 that filled my office at TCC.

On December 20 (the day after my birthday, which starts the official "holidays") I moved all the stuff from my office to my house. This involved  a lot of going up and down stairs at work (until I remembered I could load the elevator) and concentrating really super hard on not getting locked out of 1) my car 2) the building and 3) my office.  

After THAT, I had to carry all the stuff into my house to be sorted out and counted.  

This is my fifth holiday season with the veterans and I have learned to not let people adopt particular veterans because some people get left out. I have learned to not bring wrapped gifts, and I have learned to make sure each veteran gets approximately the same gift(s).  

Yes, Zack asked if he could have a blanket and we had a quick discussion about the karma surrounding that kind of choice.  

After that, he joined me in stacking and counting and rolling.

I learned (from experience) to sort the shoes and clearly label them by size.  

 This year I wanted to do something new,  something that would represent how my parents always go a little bit extra, so I made gift bags for each veteran.  They are always asking for razors, so I gave them 2-3 triple bladed razors, a bunch of chocolate, and a few rocks and shells.

 This isn't the first time I've brought shells and rocks and asked questions like "how fast can a dead snail run" so don't worry about the veterans thinking they got coal in their stockings.

 Here is the story that explains rocks and shells:

http://www.melissapedia.com/2017/12/how-high-can-rocks-fly-part-1.html
http://www.melissapedia.com/2017/12/how-high-can-rocks-fly-part-2-do-http://www.melissapedia.com/2017/12/how-high-can-rocks-fly-part-3-how-fast.html

Anyway, I enjoyed this immensely.

After all that, I added a giftbag to every towel and tied a cute bow around the towel too because I'm representing my mom and while I tend to race through things, she always takes the extra time to make sure things are "nice."

After that, I  loaded up my car and headed out to meet other people from the TCC community (you know who you are!!) to give the veterans warm holiday food, plenty of sweets, and our wishes that the New Year will bring blessings, wisdom and happiness. 

MS: You do not necessarily need to speak to someone to be able to communicate something towards them

AMH2020 student
 “We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.” – Ellen DeGeneres

            For my second service project, I completed another box to send to troops serving in Afghanistan. After working on completing and sending the first box, I realized the small impact it had quickly made on my life. I was much more interested in knowing about how these boxes impact the servicemen and women and what kind of items they are specifically in need of. Being a part of a simple project where I am able to send boxes to those who put their life on the line for the safety of my friends and family every day is something that is much more than a small token of my appreciation. While I wish I could contribute more, the best thing I can do for them to show my appreciation is to do what I am able to which is to send them this box to serve as a symbol of my sincere gratitude.

            In this box, I wanted to send similar items to my first box but not exact although each item has the same meaning behind it. For snacks, I included Candy, Chips, Cheese Crackers, Chewy Granola Bars, Freeze Dried Fruit, and Trail Mix. I know that snacks seem as a simple thing that we may take for granted but I feel that for troops in Afghanistan, these supplies may not be as readily available as we would expect them to be for us. In addition to the various snacks, I included activities to put a small smile on their faces and maybe cause a welcome distraction: pens and a Notebook, Playing Cards, and a Wheel of Fortune Word Seek book. Like the last box, the most important item in there to me was a handwritten thank you note that truly expressed my sincere thanks and appreciation for all that the servicemen and women do.

            One of the reasons this project means so much to me is because my grandmother created a similar concept to send my grandfather when he was serving in the Marines in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. Herself and her neighbors in Brooklyn, New York used to send my grandfather a small box of essentials while he was domestically serving. My Grandpa Allen, to this day constantly says that the boxes were what he looked forward to receiving and that people, some neighbors he didn’t even know cared so much about his happiness and his safety that he was truly honored and beyond appreciative of the small effort that people made specifically for him. Knowing someone who has personally served and received something like this that makes a difference in their life means more to me than I will ever be able to describe. Although I do not personally know many currently serving servicemen and women today and get a physical opportunity to say thank you, I feel that having the ability and means to put together and send these boxes to troops in Afghanistan allows me to contribute in a small manner that truly goes a long way.

            This project connects to my core values because of the fact that giving back to others and doing charity and volunteer work has always been an important aspect of my life. Additionally, being a part of a society and a group where coming together to do something strong for the community allows me to understand and connect to the service project on a deeper level. As a communications major, my eventual career will be talking to people and communicating with them in all different types of ways. I feel that I am communicating my gratitude to the servicemen and women by sending this box. To me, this is just a small way to contribute my appreciating and it ties into the communication skills that I learn each day. You do not necessarily need to speak to someone to be able to communicate something towards them. It takes the strength and motivation behind your communication to convey the message that you want sent across whether it is through symbols or physical speaking.

            I hope that my box brings happiness and a sense of joy to those troops serving in Afghanistan. My simplistic goal of putting this box together is to express my sincere gratitude and show joy for all those who have exemplified extreme bravery and are serving our country. I hope to have that impact on a servicemen or women’s life that I contributed to the small bit of happiness they may have experienced that day. I love the concept of this project as it is a simple way to express our appreciation in just a small way and I hope that by me continuing on with it because I enjoy it, I can inspire others to begin to do the same. To know from a personal experience story like my grandfathers, this little bit goes a long way whether we are aware of it or not. To get the community involved in an amazing project like this could lead to so many stepping stones for great success. I hope to be a part of this project and its incredible concept for many years to come. 

NL: I hope that these men and women enjoy their christmas gifts and I hope that they can get back on their feet

AMH2020 student

“Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

            At first I was going to cook pulled pork for a veterans BBQ at the Veteran’s Village, but then my boss accidentally scheduled me to work on the day of the BBQ. So I ended up signing up to give holiday gifts to homeless veterans at the Veteran’s Village. I love helping people in need and I am in Army ROTC and I will be an Army Officer in about 3 years. Homeless veterans are in constant need and they served our country and deserve to be treated as honored veterans. Some of these homeless veterans were heros and have not even been recognized for the heroism that they have done. The Veteran’s Village temporarily houses these homeless veterans that are in need. For this service project I bought two $15 fast food gift cards, one was to Wendy’s and the other was to Taco Bell. I hope that these men and women enjoy their christmas gifts and I hope that they can get back on their feet and maybe even help other homeless veterans in need someday.

SK: I hope all the soldiers and veterans know that there are people out there who want to give back to them and make them comfortable and happy.

AMH2020 student

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”- Maya Angelou. 

The people of United States Military are those we should take our hats off to and get on one knee for. All those men from the navy, marines, and army keep us safe and let us live the lives we always wanted without any complaints. We should do the same in helping those deployed or retired live safe, tummy full lives because that is our job as citizens. We cannot back out on the men that have risked everything for us because they deserve so much more than what they are given. Americans need to step up by sending more boxes and donating more money to the troops, they should not have to carry out the struggle of what they went through in war in real life, they deserve a break. Maya Angelou’s quote makes me think after I help out veterans or send boxes to Afghanistan that I feel like the good man behind the window, that one does not know. I feel like I am that man who gives what he can and is appreciated even though has no clue what he looks like and how good his really intentions are.  In doing my service project I thought how my nice deed of buying good and shipping them to men deployed made me a better person and impacted someone’s life greatly and community.

            I chose the job in mailing a box to Afghanistan and it was definitely one of the highlights of my year. I admit right now I am not a person who gives back to the community at all, I would much rather donate money than physically doing the action. I would rather give money because when I do physical work and see the poverty and conditions people are living in leaves me very emotional and depressed and I would much rather not feel those emotions. By mailing a box to Afganistan I was able to see a different part of myself that I never before encountered. The first task in creating the box was going to Publix to buy the goods required for the box and I literally went ham. I felt as if the best way possible to support is by buying everything on the list, so I did. I thought of Cuban grandma at that moment because all she wants is for me to do is “comer comer comer hasta que yo me explota,” she taught me to always be giving in everything I do and never take the cheap way out of things. In picking each good I felt happy that I was giving back to those soldiers who have nothing in the ugly, hot, desert that is Afghanistan. It was time to go to the post office and when I got down with all the things I bought I realized I bought so much more than what would fit in a flat rate box. I thought mailing something would be a piece of cake but it ended up being “una locura.” I have never mailed anything in my life and it took me forever to figure out everything. Every time I would go to the counter with a sealed box thinking it was done the lady kept telling me something else was wrong, I kept thinking, “Que dificil es esta mierda, soy un tremendo bobo”, It was time to pay and send the box and the lady at the post office was already giving me a rude look, not caring I put the box on top of the counter, so excited that the stuff I bought would soon be in the hands of a soldier. The lady then began to roll her eyes at me and tell me rude comments about packing the box so much but I didn’t care. I then paid and left and felt like a new person because I gave back to the boys out there fighting for us.

            My core value is happiness and mailing a box to Afghanistan related to my happiness. I am the type of person who always gets Christmas gifts for everyone because it makes me happy when I see them light up when they receive something special that I bought them. Also, I love taking pictures to remember those happy funny times that I can relate with my friends and family on whether it be karaoke to Celia Cruz on Christmas or attending Ava’s college party, times I want to remember forever. From going out to buy goods and shipping a box to a solder I believe that I reached their happiness because they got a present full of the things they love. I just wish I could see the look on their faces when they received it. The impact that I made on that soldiers’ life must be a big one because I hope he believes that there are people like myself who thank him for being over there and putting his life in danger so I can live a happy life. I hope all the soldiers and veterans know that there are people out there who want to give back to them and make them comfortable and happy. I have confidence that the project of sending goods to Afghanistan will touch all of TCC and lead to all of Tallahassee carrying out actions like these to impact our troops.