Dear Julie,

I wanted to thank you for creating opportunities for student volunteers to participate in events that support a nonprofit organization like Children’s Home Society. You have given me the option to work around my busy schedule and at the same time bring awareness to a great cause. I have not only learned to be more creative with my approach, but it has also allowed me to meet some amazing new volunteers. Although it has been tough at times trying to get others to donate

to contribute to creating kits for families in need it was all worth it knowing it will help someone who needs it. It made me think outside the box and much to my surprise I was able to use a lot of connections to gain exposure. I learned that there is an opportunity to reach people in places you would never think of. I truly want to thank you for being my contact person for this process and for responding immediately to my emails and questions. As a future nurse, I want to work with children and their families to provide resources to support a safe, healthy environment and CHS is a great resource. One of the activities I had was distributing flyers on my campus which gave me more opportunities to use my leadership skills to advocate for the Children’s Home Society. It was so much more rewarding doing it with others who believed in the cause because they had the work ethic, I had to invest in working collaboratively. This was something I learned this semester and while it can be challenging to find this, I was very fortunate to have found that in the new relationships I developed while doing this community service. I hope we can continue that connection with you moving forward as I am always seeking to make an impact in my community as a future nurse.

Thank you again for your time and efforts. I look forward to working with your organization again.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Colon

I can honestly say that this semester has been challenging and filled with many unknowns as I reached the end of my Lead program, but it has also been very rewarding. I started my service with another organization and realized that I would feel more connected to a program that focused on the health and services of children and families in need because that is the population I would like to work with in the future. So, I decided to seek out programs that were doing that and was connected by a fellow volunteer who was doing work for Children’s Home Society, and it was a perfect match. Although I had to start over, I was so grateful that I was finally going to be a part of something that spoke to my heart. I was able to experience a partnership and connection with CHS group members that far exceeded my expectations. We started small and as time went on, we developed a truly inspiring group. We bond over our accomplishments and challenges which enable me to use many of the leadership skills I studied. My mother once said there is no better teacher than life experience and I live and breathe that. I was able to create activities that better supported the organization by providing resources and donations that were used to help sponsor families to keep them together. Children in foster care were able to get care kits and new mothers were provided with resources to provide care for new infants. It has been so rewarding to bring awareness to our community on ways they can contribute, and it was so inspiring how much we were able to accomplish with the support of our community. I think for me the most impactful was the snack kits we donated for the children at the local shelter. I was able to meet so many new volunteers and watching all of us come together for such a good cause made me realize how much we need new leaders to continue the work we started so we just created flyers and distributed them to everyone we could reach. This event was one of the ways I was able to exhibit my leadership skills. Here is a list of five leadership insights I’ve gained through this service-learning project:

Insight #6: Leadership Insights

1. Surrounding myself with a like-minded diverse group of people invested in a common goal is more powerful than I could’ve ever imagined.

2. Fostering a collaborative environment is the key to successful and productive outcomes.

3. Servant leadership is the most rewarding way to lead a group of people for the greater good of those who need it the most.

4. Flexibility and Civility are vital to creating new partnerships and advocates to promote awareness of your cause.

5. Leadership is usually seen as a means to a result-driven task but using empathy and compassion inspires those around you to go above and beyond just the results in the end.

6. If you invest in something that calls to you do your best to go for it because it will be the most inspiring experience, you may have.