Blog #1: My Workplace: Tuesday Oct 11th
My workplace is called the South Hayward Parish off of Tennyson Road in Hayward; the non profit program provides food to people in Hayward who can’t regularly afford food at the local super market. The business is a small non- profit organization working with only 3 or 4 people working there at a time including my mentor Ralph Morales. My work place is located In Hayward on Patrick Avenue just off of Tennyson Road; it looks like a Small 2 story church building across the street from a park, a land mark to spot is the big white van park out front. Only about 3 to 4 people work there per day plus the occasional volunteer there to serve community hours. My workplace employs pretty much anyone who wants to either help people, or work with food, plus they have volunteers there a lot serving community hours, but they are not there everyday. So far the only person I know of who has a 4 year college degree is my mentor himself, I don’t remember exactly where he graduated from but I know he has a degree. My work place serves anyone in Hayward who is in need of food and cant afford the super market or has 10 people living in there houses, we also have a community shower so if you need a shower but have no place to take one feel free to come here. Some strengths about my workplace a is my mentors kid goes to my sisters school, and my mom can drop me off there and he pick me up from there. One weakness about my workplace is that it’s hard to do some of the school work I’m supposed to do because there’s always something to be done.
Blog #2: My Mentor: Tuesday Oct 18th
My WLE Mentor is Ralph Morales a guy I have known since the 4th grade because I used to go to school his oldest grandson, his job at my workplace is the food pantry director, and this means he is in charge of the food programs food stalk and who comes in to get food. A typical day for my mentor is in the mornings he drops his kids off at School, stays there until the bell rings, and then it’s off to work. About 10 minutes after he gets to work on Tuesday he and one of his employees go to the food bank in Oakland to stalk up on food. After the stalking and packing we start up the food distribution, that goes from 3:00-5:30, then after that he packs up and goes home. What got him interested in this line of work is all the hungry people and all the people who cant afford to by food at a grocery store.
Blog #3: My Role: Tuesday Oct 25th
My main Responsibility at my work place is to bag food in portions according to how many people are in the family, for example of we have fish we put 4 pieces in a plastic bag that is one piece per person. Some other responsibilities include loading and unloading our van with food that we get from the larger food bank. Other task I complete each week is helping in distributing to=he food to the people we do this per person for example if there are 5 people in a house hold we give to or three apples per person it can be hard sometimes especially when we have a lot of food. A regular day for me is this I wake up at about 7:00 in the morning eat breakfast, get dressed, and make my lunch, I wait for a few minutes and then go with my mom to drop my sister off at school. Since my mentors kids go to me sister’s school we meet up there and we go to the work place. After that we call my teacher to let her know I am there and then at about 9:30 we head to Oakland to pick up food from the food bank. After that we load a ton of food on to carts making them impossible for one person to move. After we are done there we load up the van and go back to our location. Once we get back we take a 5 minute break and start unloading the van, as well as a truck that comes to deliver some more food they didn’t have open to the public at the food bank. After that the rest of the day is just getting ready for the people bagging food, cleaning up, putting out what we are going to give out. Then at 3:00 the distribution starts, big rushes come in at the start and then it starts to dies down at about 4:00. I end with a 4:45 going home and ending my day.
Blog #4: Project Brainstorm: Tuesday Nov 1st
What I am thinking I will do for my WLE project is to chronicle what started this program. Why the volunteers who work there come there instead of other places, and why the people why the people who actually get food come there, get there story of why they have to come there. How I came up with the idea is when I talked to my family about it they helped me come up with the idea, I personally think this idea is a god educational opportunity for people who haven’t heard of this program and need this kind of service. I am excited to do this project over the next 3 or 4 weeks because it will give me a more in depth look at the business itself and the kind of people who need this service and why they need it, and in the end hope that people will hear of it and go to the program for food. What I will need to accomplish for this project is to ask my mentor if I can get a chance to be the greeter and have a chance to talk to the people, I hope to borrow a video camera from someone so that I can record what they say instead of writing it down, I sure hope this project goes well and I can finish it in time to present it.
Blog #5: Progress on my WLE Project, part 1: Tuesday Nov 8th
What I did at my WLE today was as always start out the day by unloading last weeks non perishable food from the van, after that’s done we head down to Oakland to pick up food from the big food back think of it as a Costco where everything is in bulk. After that’s done we headed back and our delivery man was already there ready to give us some onions, potatoes and yams. Once we unloaded and stored all that it was time to get the frozen and perishable foods out of our van and put them in our big refrigerator units, and freezers. Once that was done the rest was just getting ready for the people to come and get food, by stocking the produce outing cans on shelves, and bagging other goods. What My mentor and II have talked about regarding my project is what I will have to do in order to complete it, as we speak I am trying to obtain a video camera so that I may turn it into a video project which should be fun. So far al I have accomplished on my project is completing the project plan, and taking some notes on what goes on there, for example at the big food bank they have a lot of items in stalk for shoppers to get but the rest they don’t have in stalk is loaded onto trucks and delivered to the appropriate locations.
Blog #6: Leadership Skills: Tuesday Nov 15th
The leadership skills I am using most at my WLE are Thinking Critically, An Collaborate Productively, the way I use thinking critically is when we load food into the back of our van we have to think of a certain way to stack it so that it won’t fall over, and so nothing gets broken. The way I use Collaborate Productively is that when we are back at our location we need to work together to get certain task done such as unloading the van, distributing food, and getting food from the big food bank. I feel that I am using the leadership sill fairly well because I’m always working with others and we get it done, and I have found good ways to stack the food so it won’t fall over. The Leadership skills help me finish my work because one more people gets work done faster, and I can think of new ways to make the work go faster and more fun so that I’m not bored. My mentor uses all the leadership skills to be honest granted he’s the director of the whole thing, he has to work with the other people of other programs and companies, he has to think of ways to get things done, he has to complete certain projects by a specific time, and he also has to communicate e with people in order to set up certain events.
Blog #7: What I learned, Reflection: Tuesday Nov 22nd
What I have learned about myself from this WLE experience is that I like doing heavy lifting, and that I am able to do it, I don’t mind moving heavy boxes around unless they are to heavy then I will mind. One challenge I faced during my WLE was trying to obtain a video camera for my project, how I over came that was I talked to the tech manager at my school, who told me to talk to my vice principle who in turn let me borrow the camera. Another challenge I had was getting the right amount of interviews to complete my project, how I over came that was the people who didn’t feel comfortable being on camera I wrote down the answers to the questions I asked them. Some life lessons ii learned at my WLE is that not everyone is lucky enough to have what I have specifically a good meal every night, I also learned tat as easy as it is to make a great living it is also easy for all that to go down hill. If someone were to ask me how what I did was important I would say that I am giving someone who cant normally go into a resturant or a store, a good meal or meals to last them until next week.
Blog #8: Professionalism: Tuesday Nov 29th
In order to find a WLE and get hired I had to talk to a lot of people who work there to see if they needed the help and if it was a good time to do it. I also had to figure out and ask about other back up places in case my first pick did not workout, for example I looked into AC transit the city bus company. The most effective way of getting a job and getting hired is to make sure you know what you are going to say when you going for the interview, make sure its in you interest level pick something you like doing so that you wont get sick of it in the end, and have options don’t just go for one job application pick a few in case one doesn’t workout. As for keeping the job make sure you do what you are suppose to and don’t do anything that will get you fired. As a result of my WLE I think being a professional and a responsible adult in the work world means always show up on time for work I, and if you are going to be late call your boss, also learn to communicate well with others even people you don’t like, because in the work world you will be dealing with all kinds of people.
Blog #9: Life at my WLE: Tuesday Dec 6th
What I did today was take care of preparations such as setting up the produce table, bagging some salad, and meeting our produce driver, and obtaining onions, potatoes, and cabbage. It was a pretty chill day nothing exciting really happened. We had a lot of help today from an old friend, a pastor, and a couple new volunteers. How I have improved at my WLE is that I now know all about it, how it works, what they do, I can explain it to anybody =who has questions. For example today one of the volunteers there a young guy by the name of Kyle was working with me in unloading 1000 pounds of coffee from our van, and he asked questions such as how =does the food distribution work, where the people and when they come in. What makes my workplace great to work at is that one it teaches people that not everybody is as wealthy as you are, and it teaches you a lot of things, because the people at my workplace have been around longer then I have and they know a lot of valuable info that I can pass onto someone else. Another reason my workplace is great to work at is the fact that you get free food if you work there it’s a pretty good perk if you think about it. There aren’t really any reasons why my workplace is a bad place to work at it’s a great place and I recommend it to anyone else who wants to work there.
Blog #10: The End: Tuesday Dec 13th
Some Final Thoughts I have about my WLE are that I’m going miss working there for the rest of the year I liked it there, and I liked the people who worked there. Some other thoughts I have are that is that it is a great place to work and volunteer at, I think if you need volunteer hours you should go there because it is just a great place to work, the people are nice and funny you learn a lot and you get to see a different side of life. This experience will affect my WLE next year because it will cause me to choose something where I know I will learn a lot from not just my mentor but the people I work along side of. It will also cause me to pick something I like doing and to work hard at getting it, not slacking off, and expecting them to say yes just from one phone call. This year I didn’t really work hard to get this WLE all I did was talk to a guy I’ve known for awhile who knows what I can do and will automatically say yes. All I know is that I am going to miss working there. The good part is that I know I can go back and volunteer there anytime I want when I am on school break.
Blog #2: My Mentor: Tuesday Oct 18th
My WLE Mentor is Ralph Morales a guy I have known since the 4th grade because I used to go to school his oldest grandson, his job at my workplace is the food pantry director, and this means he is in charge of the food programs food stalk and who comes in to get food. A typical day for my mentor is in the mornings he drops his kids off at School, stays there until the bell rings, and then it’s off to work. About 10 minutes after he gets to work on Tuesday he and one of his employees go to the food bank in Oakland to stalk up on food. After the stalking and packing we start up the food distribution, that goes from 3:00-5:30, then after that he packs up and goes home. What got him interested in this line of work is all the hungry people and all the people who cant afford to by food at a grocery store.
Blog #3: My Role: Tuesday Oct 25th
My main Responsibility at my work place is to bag food in portions according to how many people are in the family, for example of we have fish we put 4 pieces in a plastic bag that is one piece per person. Some other responsibilities include loading and unloading our van with food that we get from the larger food bank. Other task I complete each week is helping in distributing to=he food to the people we do this per person for example if there are 5 people in a house hold we give to or three apples per person it can be hard sometimes especially when we have a lot of food. A regular day for me is this I wake up at about 7:00 in the morning eat breakfast, get dressed, and make my lunch, I wait for a few minutes and then go with my mom to drop my sister off at school. Since my mentors kids go to me sister’s school we meet up there and we go to the work place. After that we call my teacher to let her know I am there and then at about 9:30 we head to Oakland to pick up food from the food bank. After that we load a ton of food on to carts making them impossible for one person to move. After we are done there we load up the van and go back to our location. Once we get back we take a 5 minute break and start unloading the van, as well as a truck that comes to deliver some more food they didn’t have open to the public at the food bank. After that the rest of the day is just getting ready for the people bagging food, cleaning up, putting out what we are going to give out. Then at 3:00 the distribution starts, big rushes come in at the start and then it starts to dies down at about 4:00. I end with a 4:45 going home and ending my day.
Blog #4: Project Brainstorm: Tuesday Nov 1st
What I am thinking I will do for my WLE project is to chronicle what started this program. Why the volunteers who work there come there instead of other places, and why the people why the people who actually get food come there, get there story of why they have to come there. How I came up with the idea is when I talked to my family about it they helped me come up with the idea, I personally think this idea is a god educational opportunity for people who haven’t heard of this program and need this kind of service. I am excited to do this project over the next 3 or 4 weeks because it will give me a more in depth look at the business itself and the kind of people who need this service and why they need it, and in the end hope that people will hear of it and go to the program for food. What I will need to accomplish for this project is to ask my mentor if I can get a chance to be the greeter and have a chance to talk to the people, I hope to borrow a video camera from someone so that I can record what they say instead of writing it down, I sure hope this project goes well and I can finish it in time to present it.
Blog #5: Progress on my WLE Project, part 1: Tuesday Nov 8th
What I did at my WLE today was as always start out the day by unloading last weeks non perishable food from the van, after that’s done we head down to Oakland to pick up food from the big food back think of it as a Costco where everything is in bulk. After that’s done we headed back and our delivery man was already there ready to give us some onions, potatoes and yams. Once we unloaded and stored all that it was time to get the frozen and perishable foods out of our van and put them in our big refrigerator units, and freezers. Once that was done the rest was just getting ready for the people to come and get food, by stocking the produce outing cans on shelves, and bagging other goods. What My mentor and II have talked about regarding my project is what I will have to do in order to complete it, as we speak I am trying to obtain a video camera so that I may turn it into a video project which should be fun. So far al I have accomplished on my project is completing the project plan, and taking some notes on what goes on there, for example at the big food bank they have a lot of items in stalk for shoppers to get but the rest they don’t have in stalk is loaded onto trucks and delivered to the appropriate locations.
Blog #6: Leadership Skills: Tuesday Nov 15th
The leadership skills I am using most at my WLE are Thinking Critically, An Collaborate Productively, the way I use thinking critically is when we load food into the back of our van we have to think of a certain way to stack it so that it won’t fall over, and so nothing gets broken. The way I use Collaborate Productively is that when we are back at our location we need to work together to get certain task done such as unloading the van, distributing food, and getting food from the big food bank. I feel that I am using the leadership sill fairly well because I’m always working with others and we get it done, and I have found good ways to stack the food so it won’t fall over. The Leadership skills help me finish my work because one more people gets work done faster, and I can think of new ways to make the work go faster and more fun so that I’m not bored. My mentor uses all the leadership skills to be honest granted he’s the director of the whole thing, he has to work with the other people of other programs and companies, he has to think of ways to get things done, he has to complete certain projects by a specific time, and he also has to communicate e with people in order to set up certain events.
Blog #7: What I learned, Reflection: Tuesday Nov 22nd
What I have learned about myself from this WLE experience is that I like doing heavy lifting, and that I am able to do it, I don’t mind moving heavy boxes around unless they are to heavy then I will mind. One challenge I faced during my WLE was trying to obtain a video camera for my project, how I over came that was I talked to the tech manager at my school, who told me to talk to my vice principle who in turn let me borrow the camera. Another challenge I had was getting the right amount of interviews to complete my project, how I over came that was the people who didn’t feel comfortable being on camera I wrote down the answers to the questions I asked them. Some life lessons ii learned at my WLE is that not everyone is lucky enough to have what I have specifically a good meal every night, I also learned tat as easy as it is to make a great living it is also easy for all that to go down hill. If someone were to ask me how what I did was important I would say that I am giving someone who cant normally go into a resturant or a store, a good meal or meals to last them until next week.
Blog #8: Professionalism: Tuesday Nov 29th
In order to find a WLE and get hired I had to talk to a lot of people who work there to see if they needed the help and if it was a good time to do it. I also had to figure out and ask about other back up places in case my first pick did not workout, for example I looked into AC transit the city bus company. The most effective way of getting a job and getting hired is to make sure you know what you are going to say when you going for the interview, make sure its in you interest level pick something you like doing so that you wont get sick of it in the end, and have options don’t just go for one job application pick a few in case one doesn’t workout. As for keeping the job make sure you do what you are suppose to and don’t do anything that will get you fired. As a result of my WLE I think being a professional and a responsible adult in the work world means always show up on time for work I, and if you are going to be late call your boss, also learn to communicate well with others even people you don’t like, because in the work world you will be dealing with all kinds of people.
Blog #9: Life at my WLE: Tuesday Dec 6th
What I did today was take care of preparations such as setting up the produce table, bagging some salad, and meeting our produce driver, and obtaining onions, potatoes, and cabbage. It was a pretty chill day nothing exciting really happened. We had a lot of help today from an old friend, a pastor, and a couple new volunteers. How I have improved at my WLE is that I now know all about it, how it works, what they do, I can explain it to anybody =who has questions. For example today one of the volunteers there a young guy by the name of Kyle was working with me in unloading 1000 pounds of coffee from our van, and he asked questions such as how =does the food distribution work, where the people and when they come in. What makes my workplace great to work at is that one it teaches people that not everybody is as wealthy as you are, and it teaches you a lot of things, because the people at my workplace have been around longer then I have and they know a lot of valuable info that I can pass onto someone else. Another reason my workplace is great to work at is the fact that you get free food if you work there it’s a pretty good perk if you think about it. There aren’t really any reasons why my workplace is a bad place to work at it’s a great place and I recommend it to anyone else who wants to work there.
Blog #10: The End: Tuesday Dec 13th
Some Final Thoughts I have about my WLE are that I’m going miss working there for the rest of the year I liked it there, and I liked the people who worked there. Some other thoughts I have are that is that it is a great place to work and volunteer at, I think if you need volunteer hours you should go there because it is just a great place to work, the people are nice and funny you learn a lot and you get to see a different side of life. This experience will affect my WLE next year because it will cause me to choose something where I know I will learn a lot from not just my mentor but the people I work along side of. It will also cause me to pick something I like doing and to work hard at getting it, not slacking off, and expecting them to say yes just from one phone call. This year I didn’t really work hard to get this WLE all I did was talk to a guy I’ve known for awhile who knows what I can do and will automatically say yes. All I know is that I am going to miss working there. The good part is that I know I can go back and volunteer there anytime I want when I am on school break.
