THURSDAY, MARCH 6

Today was a very interesting day. My group went to a place called Hour Children. This particular place takes care of children who range in ages 2mths to 12 years old. Most of these children parents are incarcerated. A couple of these kids have foster parents but most are caught up in the system waiting for their parents to return from prison. Hour children also offer clothes and furniture for those who are returning from prison.

I applaud this place because it is a non profit organization so most of the funds they receive are from donation. I had the chance to meet some of the children who are quite well adjusted children considering their circumstances. I also had the chance to work in the store and hang and separate some of the clothes in the store which are provided to some of the parents and child. What makes this place exceptional from Child protective services is that they are focus on the parents and the child well being. --- Michelle Carter


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Today’s assignment was interesting. My group volunteered at the YCP Pantry which is the largest pantry in New York. They serve over 1250 families a week. When we arrived they were extremely happy to see us. They had a full day of work waiting. Another team from the YSOP program joined us at the site. We packed, and packed, and packed hundreds and hundreds of family packages. I also assisted in handing the packages to the families. The system they had in place was really neat. The families had to register with the program and they were assigned a number according to their family size and that number told us what size packages to hand them. It was rewarding to see the families come through and collect their packages.

Tonight was phenomenal! We, the pioneer alternative spring break class of Clayton State, prepared dinner tonight. We weathered rough winds and chilling temperatures to find a grocery store, keep in mind there is no Kroger or Publix, only grocery stores. We made spaghetti, toss salad, homemade garlic bread, Southern Style sweet tea (Thank God! I was going into sweet tea withdrawal), and a strawberry crème cake topped with fresh strawberries made by yours truly. It was absolutely great! We all sat and chat and reflected on this week here in NY. What a great experience I had. I can’t wait to hear about next year’s ASB. --- Atawanna L. Royal


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This experience has been very exciting. I have met a wonderful group of people. I like the fact everyone has different personalities yet we still got all the tasks done in a timely manner. Today we went to a Yorktown Food Bank and worked with other members from the YSOP. They were friendly and nice. We all formed an assembly line to get the job done. I bagged the items with the other members. It was pretty strenuous because the bags were quite heavy.

Tonight the ASB crew had an intimate dinner. We cooked plenty of good food and conversed about our different experiences here in New York. I enjoyed the laughs we all shared together. I feel like I met another family from Clayton State. We all made sure everyone was taken of on this trip. I really liked that. I appreciated this experience and I am grateful that I was chosen to be apart of the ASB. I have learned so much about different perceptions and different cultures on this trip. Although we worked extremely hard, I felt as thought we were still on vacation.
The leaders did an excellent job of planning the itinerary for ASB. This community service projects have taught me to appreciative of what I have and do not take things for granted. I enjoyed the feeling of being valued for my services. I never knew how many soup kitchens and food banks there were here in New York to assist the homeless and hungry. I think that is a positive factor that is rarely portrayed about New York. I hope they continue the ASB because it was an eye opening experience. --- Willetta Reed


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Volunteering today was held at the Yorktown Food Pantry. I worked any handed all week than I did today. They told us that they average giving about 1,300 bags of each week to families whose numbers ranged from 1 to 8 members. Four of us worked to bag bagels and food. Once the families started to arrive the shelves which were fully stocked began to empty faster than we could restock them. Once again I realized fortunate I am. No matter how difficult my days may be or how hard the semester is, nothing in my life compares to what the individuals and families we have come in contact with this week encounter each day. Not knowing if you will have enough food to feed your family has to be an overwhelming feeling.

Everyone we came across was not homeless, but everyone was hungry. I also appreciate the new friends I have made this week as well. I have learned a little something from everyone. This has been an experience that I am very thankful to have the opportunity to participate in; it has deeply enriched my life, opened my eyes and my mind even more than it was before. --- Denise


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Today our group went to Queens & worked in a thrift store. The Thrift Store’s proceeds go to “The Hour Children,” which is place that cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. We organized clothing according to gender, color, and type. We really connected with the employees, who were really friendly and out going. A part of our group went to the park to play with the children of “The Hour House,” while the rest of us stayed and finished organizing the thrift store.

After we were finished we went to Harlem and did some shopping/sightseeing. Then we searched for something resembling a grocery store from back home, but had no such luck. We did find a small grocery mart, but it wasn’t quite the same. We came back to the hostel and all chipped in to prepare and cook a really nice dinner for all of us. We even set the table with white table linen, and set up the plates and napkins in a “fancy” style setting. We all had dinner together like the family we have become, while reflecting on our time here. I am really enjoying each and every person, everyone is so unique and different, we all bring our own styles and personalities together, yet get along really well. We have all become really close and I feel that I have made some lasting friendships. Also, this week has been life changing for me, and I have had the privilege of experiencing things that most people will never get to experience. It has been a major learning experience, and I know that all of the things that I have learned and experienced are priceless and I will remember these things for the rest of my life. --- Amber


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Yesterday was an awesome day. I had the chance to visit a food pantry. The pantry serves the five burroughs of New York City. There is so much food that is being distributed to these cities. We packed about four planks of food that held about thirty six boxes of food and each weighed about twenty pounds a piece. I hope we were able to make a difference today by volunteering. --- Michelle Carter


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Once again today took an adventure on New York’s Metro. We went to a food pantry in Harlem, New York. While my classmates packed bags of food I was given the privilege to interact with public hand out food bags in the front office. I met some very interesting people. When we left there we toured Harlem. Then later that evening prepared dinner at the hostel as a group and it was delicious. I cant wait for tomorrow. --- Xavier Russ


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Our adventure today starts off going to Queens for our first mission, Hour Child. Hour Child helps mothers and children reunite with their loved ones. In other cases, they help the mothers establish a stable life with their children. There are plans and set ups for the mothers to go through. The first step, they place the mothers in a shelter called dependent shelter then independent house. Today we helped organized the thrift store for the Hour Child. The thrift store is not an ordinary thrift store because it donates clothes to the mothers who need clothing for their children. Kamille, Amber, and Michelle helped out with babysitting the children. I helped out with Lashanda and Amber with the clothes. I believe today’s mission helped me see other views of how people life styles are. I feel inspired to help a lot of people. I hope I can do more in life after today.

At the end of the mission, we headed out to Harlem. Harlem was a new experience for me. I never felt like I fitted in so well in Harlem. It felt like I was not standing out in the crowd. I love the food here especially the fruits. They tasted so much better than Georgia’s fruit. For tonight we had our second to the last dinner together. Everyone pitched in to make dinner. I made garlic bread while the others prepared the spaghetti and cake. We ate together and laughed all the way till we became tired. From the beginning we were all strangers now we are like family. When one or the others needed money, one of us was willing to pitch in. We learn to trust each other. We learned about each other views such as their dislikes to their habits of sleep talking at night. Through the few rough time we went through with each other, we endured and grew stronger from each tussle. This was a rewarding experience. --- Penny Ho


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Today I worked with the Hour Children day care system and the Hour Children Thrift store. Hour children works with mothers who are incarcerated. They take care of the babies until the mothers are released from prison. After playing with all the children, many of them became attached when it was time to go. My heart was broken when the kids started to cry. It occurred to me that many of them probably don’t have solid connections with people. In conclusion, I am very pleased with our last day of service. --- Kamille Rigsby


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Today we went to our children organization. This organization is for kids that have mothers that are incarcerated and can not take care of them, and also, have no family to take care of them. We couldn’t go into the daycare because we didn’t have medial records, so we helped in the clothing store. The store provides clothes for the mothers and the children. But we were then able to play with the kids when they came to the playground. I love kids so it was a fun experience. The kids were skeptical at first but then warmed up to us. I loved the experience and even made some “little friends”. I would love to do it again and learn more about it. --- Tina Young