This past weekend (Sept. 26, 2009), the members of Phi Theta kappa Honor Society chose a project for Ms Finnley. The project consisted of repairing her shed door that had been repaired before and was in need of several pieces of wood being replaced. I (Shannon Gill) scheduled a meeting with Sue about a week before the project was completed to see what the project was going to entail. From speaking with Sue on the first meeting, I was able to evaluate the project and to find out what her concerns were about the door on the shed. The shed had several pieces of wood that was rotting which left the door sagging making it hard to open and close. Sue stated, “She was no longer able to open the door.” Sue and I talked for about a half and hour about NeighborLink and Phi Theta Kappa. I believe that this interaction with Sue made her feel at ease having strangers at her home. I could imagine that it has to be an uneasy feeling being an elderly adult, living alone, and trusting other people that she does not know at all at her home. The first meeting with the homeowner that is receiving the work may be the most important meeting of the whole project. I believe that it is up to the coach to make the person at ease, and the interaction with that person is one way that this can be done.

The day of the project, Kevin Bathke, Jason Bender, and myself chose to be present to complete this project for Sue. I met Sue just before Kevin and Jason arrived. I let her know that Kevin and Jason would be there shortly so she would know who to be expecting at her home and what we were planning. I had previously obtained all of the materials that I thought we would need and brought them with me that day. This planning was definitely useful since the project went smoothly with everything on hand. This project was completed in just less than 2 hours with the three of us working on the project. Being part of Phi Theta Kappa, our members have taken the initiative to become active in community service projects, and NeighborLink was chosen by our group to be a resource for these projects. The feeling of appreciation and gratitude that you get from the people that you can help is one that cannot be replaced. The self-fulfillment that we receive from performing projects such as this is its own reward. The appreciation that you see in the faces of the people that you help is unbelievable. There really are no words to describe how these people feel. The help each of us can provide just by volunteering a little bit of our time is payment a hundred times over.

Certainly, the rewards are not only felt by the recipient but by the volunteers as well. Kevin, a nursing student and our Chapter President, shared a couple of sentences about his experience that day that really shows how the volunteers are rewarded as well. Kevin wrote, “I really enjoyed it! It was slightly different from my usual field of knowledge in my nursing career LOL! Drilling in screws is a little different than putting in an IV!” Kevin’s words shows that even the volunteers are gaining knowledge and experience from helping with these projects. Speaking for our group, I believe we are all looking forward to the experiences that we will face in the future with NeighborLink as well as other projects we will undertake.  

Until Next Time 

Shannon Gill