Ashley Smalls Volunteering at Tricounty Family Ministries

1. I went home over the Thanksgiving break and found a great volunteer opportunity on the news one evening with my mom. The Volunteer Coordinator, Marsha Alterman was advertising how she was packaging food and passing them out to anyone who wanted to stop by. It was mostly for the homeless or people in need. It was located in North Charleston, SC, and was called Tricounty Family Ministries.
2. Tricounty Family Ministries reflected what I have learned from the HDFS curriculum and this class in particular about FLE through showing me what an impact people can have on a community. I learned that family doesn't have to be blood but a sense of belonging. Anyone could have the title of being your family because they could have a special bond with you that is genuine form the love and care you have shared with one another. I got hands on experience working with diverse groups or people from different gender, races, and ages and serving diverse people.  I developed an understanding of how essential being educated about family life is, to ensure all families are successful.
3. This was my first-time volunteering with Tricounty. I met the Volunteer Coordinator and she explained to me what she has for the North Charleston community all year round to provide food for the homeless.  Three days a week, around the Thanksgiving holidays and Christmas holidays she gets donations of meals from restaurants in the Charleston area, hotels, business, and shelters so she can service them to the community. She was the only face I saw on the news when I found out about the organization, her networking on T.V. gave me the opportunity I had to meet her.  Also, while at the center I got a chance to meet some of the other volunteers as well. I met mothers, families, church goers, high school students, and even people who lived close by in the community. These people were from different parts of Charleston and were in different stages of their lives. Meeting these people and networking has taught me that it's always good to know how to be vocal and talk about yourself, and also being kind to others because you never know what opportunities lies ahead for you, that could lead you into a career.  
4. Every city has a good area with great schools, neighborhoods, and stores, and every city has a bad area with not the same resources as the good parts. This service activity specifically reaches out to one of the bad areas in North Charleston regularly to focus on making a difference in people's lives. It shows people who may be struggling to find their next meal that there are people who care, and want to see them live successfully as well as others. 
5. I think this was a great assignment to give the class. With having an HDFS degree at some point in our careers we will be working with diverse groups of people, whether that's teaching a class or working one-on-one, with a company, or non-profit organization; this assignment gave us a mandatory way of gaining experience. I am glad I found out about Tricounty Families Ministries because I didn't even know it existed and it's a great way for me to gain service hours while being at home during breaks. This was the first year I did community service on Thanksgiving and it felt really good to give back.