A Service-Learning/Activism ProjectCami Thompson

The F-M Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides services to the homeless and people in need of food and shelter.

The organization is made up of two parts- The Food Pantry and The Shelter.◦ Both have different services for each.

The F-M Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, Inc. was a tribute to Dorothy Day, a social activist that served in the 1900s.

Dorothy Day started up her own homeless shelter in 1933.

The Dorothy Day house was established in 1983 in Moorhead Minnesota.

The Food Pantry serves an average of 1500 people each month from our area.

75% of the food is donated, 25% is bought. With a new system, the clients are able to

have a choice in the food they receive and the amount is according to the size of their family. It reduces the food that goes to waste because the family cannot eat it or does not like it.

Volunteers walk the clients around and help them pick out their food choices.

My first goal was to not only do the 10 hours needed for this project, but to continue on with it.◦ I plan on going back and volunteering at the end

of this month and continuing to do so the following months

◦ Not only does volunteering at this specific place make me feel like I am really making a difference, it was really fun to do and allowed me to meet new people.

My second goal was that I wanted to learn about this organization and how it operates. I wanted to learn what this organization does for people as how the people themselves feel about it and how it has helped them.◦ I learned the general information about this

organization and how everything in it works.◦ By being in close contact with the people receiving

the food, I learned that most really did appreciate it and were very grateful that we were there to help.

◦ The people always said thank-you to us when they were finished picking out their food.

My third goal was to just help the organization because the volunteers is what keeps the place going.

My forth goal was to get to know the people who run the organization and learn how it has changed their lives.◦ I met some of the people and learned that

although stressful at times, they really do love what they do and really do care about making a difference.

My fifth and final goal was to learn something about myself and how the whole situation made me feel.◦ I learned that by doing things like that to help

someone really does make you feel good about yourself. By being there I felt like I was making a difference. Meeting the different people who use the facilities made me feel really sad because of their situation and what they go through, but knowing that there are places that can help them like this one, I was thankful.

I did my Service Learning/Activism project on the 16th, 17th and 24th of June with a friend, Lacey, who also is taking this class. 10+ hours were completed in these days.

Our first job was to make 4 tri-fold posters to be displayed at 4 of the major banks around the Fargo-Moorhead area. ◦ The posters contained informational aspects

about volunteering, the organization itself, their mission and the facilities.

◦ This was the part of the project where we were able to bring awareness of the organization to the public.

The second job was to go to the food pantry itself and actually get involved in the process of helping clients choose their items.◦ The clients were first given a colored sheet that had a

list of how many items they could have from the different categories provided. The color of the sheet corresponded with the number of people in their family. We then walked with them around the pantry and told them how many of the each category they could have. For example, three cans of fruit for a family of 4.

◦ I thought this was cool because they actually got to choose what they wanted. It was like they were shopping in a grocery store.

I am so happy I did my Service-Learning Project at the Dorothy Day Food Pantry.◦ Not only did I learn about the organization itself, I

also got to meet many people and help the organization itself.

◦ My favorite thing was actually getting to walk around with the clients and help them pick out their items.

◦ I hope our posters get the attention of the public so that more volunteers go and help out.

This organization makes a difference in people’s lives everyday.

It was a fun experience to get to help them

and I hope they continue to make our community a better place by providing for the people in need.