Project Link Assignment By: Megan Eshleman

I did my project link volunteering hours at a church up in Chicago that provides assistance to the underprivileged.  I did 4 hours in the daycare that the church runs for families who aren’t able to afford other day care.  I did my last hour through the same church volunteering through a program that helps the elderly in the community.  Volunteering through this organization definitely reflected concepts from our class and other classes that I have taken in the past.  In class we learned about the costs of families who live below the poverty line and how they sometimes have to cut out certain expenses to provide basic necessities for their families.  Often time’s daycare is cut, or reduced.  The daycare ran by the church is low cost and takes other form of payments than just money. I thought that was really neat.  I also volunteered an hour for a program that helps the elderly in the community who don’t have cars and aren’t able to get themselves around to run errands.  I was able to assist a woman named Ellie in getting her groceries, going to the post office and even going to Kohls to pick up some new shirts. There are definitely disadvantages that the aging population runs into that others do not. So I thought it was really important to include them in this assignment.  I really enjoyed her company and that was able to assist her in such a simple way that meant a lot to her.  While volunteering there I was able to meet a lot of different congregation members and administrators for the church and network with them.  I’m hoping that I left a good impression on them.  Overall I really enjoyed this assignment and offering my services in places that needed it. After the day I felt accomplished and happy that I was able to help others in need. It was also ironic that I was able to work with children and the elderly as that I can’t decide which direction I want my career to go; Either working with younger children or older adults.  I hope that I am able to continue volunteering in the future.