December Blog: Second Harvest

December service hours: 4

Cumulative service hours: 12


The first half of December was a busy time for me, but overall went very well. I had my third and final presentation of the semester shortly before our last exams which proved challenging, but continued to teach me better time management. I was also fortunate to get the opportunity to see my brother along with quality time with my friends and other family members. My brother lives in California so it is always a rare treat when he returns to New Orleans to visit.

In terms of community service, I had the opportunity to work with Second Harvest Food Bank for my last community service experience of the semester. I volunteered on the 6th of December and helped them at their facility in Elmwood in the early morning. Although I had always heard good things about Second Harvest, the experience exceeded my expectations of how it would go. Everyone in the organization was very friendly and grateful for the help of every volunteer.


For the duration of my visit, I worked in the food kitchen with a group of about 15 people putting together meals into Eco-friendly disposable trays. These meals would be given out in an attempt to combat hunger for those less fortunate. The meals we prepared were surprisingly well balanced and nutritious which I especially felt good about because nutrition and fitness are passions of mine. 


Being my first time volunteering there, I initially was unsure of what exactly to do. Luckily, the more experienced volunteers were very friendly and helpful from the minute I arrived. Overall it fostered a great atmosphere amongst the volunteers and surely encourages people to come back and help out more. I will certainly be volunteering there again in the future because of this overwhelmingly positive experience.


Happy to keep you all updated on my Pharmacology journey and I hope everyone has a good holidays,

Edward Benjamin

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