Alexander Wiley

On September 19th I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Binghampton OneHamp Festival. I was able to help set up the festival by putting up tents, tables, and arranging chairs. Throughout this process we worked as a team, which made the experience that much better. I was able to connect with other volunteers as well make an impact within the community. The Binghampton OneHampton Festival aligns with my values because it is a festival that brings different vendors/people together to foster a sense of unity. Overall, I had a great time and I would definitely come back again!

I volunteered at the INN BLOOM Celebration. At this event I was at the bubble paint station, where we were able to allow kids to paint freely with bubbles. The kids seemed to have a good time and enjoyed creating art. My service contributed to the overall goals of the organization because the room in the inn organization whole mission is to help within the community and create positive impact, and that is exactly what I was aiming to do. Personally this volunteering impacted me because it was nice to see the community gather together and come to event like this. Everyone was having fun and it was great to be a part of. The instructions were clear on what I was supposed to be doing, and I would definitely come back again.

I volunteered for the Mobile Food Pantry. At this event we passed out food to those in need, in a drive-thru fashion. The people were in good spirits and I they definitely were appreciative for the food. This service aligned with my beliefs personally because I think the no one should be without food and this event gave me the ability to help in some capacity. We worked as part of a team at this event and this made everything a lot easier. We were able to make sure the line kept moving along while also meeting some other great volunteers. They were clear with their instructions when directing us on what we need to do. I would definitely recommend and I will volunteer here again.

I volunteered at the Catholic Charities Community Garden. During the event I learned the importance of teamwork because as a group we were able to completely revive the garden. This event challenged my problem solving abilities because I have never really gardened so I had to learn what the most effective way to pull plants out of the ground were, especially the stubborn ones. We worked as a team at this event and I was removing the weeds as well taking all the discards to the trash. Working as a team made this event a lot better because I was able to connect with people while also doing the job more efficiently. An unexpected challenge was that there was a large plant that was stuck deep in the ground and it took four of us with a shovel to try and remove it. I liked this event and I would definitely attend another.

I volunteered with the Carpenter Art Garden Turkey Giveaway. During this event I learned the importance Thanksgiving and how it brings people together. This event challenged my problem solving abilities because I had to make sure the sides were organized in a way that they were easy to hand out and do it efficiently. The community is well intertwined and everyone seems to want help each other out. We worked as part of team during this event and my role as to get the sides from the house to the parking lot to be picked up. Working as a team made this event a lot better because everything was able to run smoothly. An unexpected challenge I had to face was that the they were putting the bags of sides together very fast and I had to keep up with them to prevent a bottleneck. I do plan to volunteer with this organization again because the task were straightforward and everyone welcomed us with open arms.

This event challenged my problem solving abilities because during the event we had a lot of weeds that needed to be cut back and we had to find a way to do it effectively. During this event I learned that there were many dedicated volunteers who maintain the greenline frequently and they are the ones that keep it nice. During this event we worked as part of team which made the experience a lot better because everyone was able to work on different parts of the greenline. I would volunteer with this organization again because everyone was very friendly and we were able to get the task finished by the end of the time. The most unexpected challenge that we faced was making sure that we were able to fit as many weeds on the back of the truck as possible to reduce the amount of loads that we had to drive and dump.

I volunteered at the St. Ann Special Athlete Fun Day. Through this experience I was able to improve my communication skills because I had to make sure I was giving clear directions to the athletes. I learned that everybody has strengths and weaknesses and in an event like this the strength of the athletes really shined in order to do each event. I worked as part of a team in this event, we were in charge of the soccer kick event. Working as a team really made it easier to handle because we all played different roles in the success of the event. The organization supported us during the service because they gave us everything we needed to be successful all we had to do was run the event. An unexpected challenge that we faced was the when we first began and we were trying to make sure it was orderly. At first it was hectic but we were able to get everyone in line and we were able to score everyone accurately.

This event challenged my problem solving abilities because I never knew all it took to maintain plants and the landscape. It takes a mixture of being delicate but also making sure you get everything. I learned that maintaining the Botanical Gardens takes a lot of hard work. I have gained a lot of respect for the people that do it on a daily basis. We worked as part of a team and that really helped throughout the process. Everyone was working in a different area, but in doing that we were able to collectively get the job done. The organization guided us through by providing us with everything we needed to complete the tasks as well as information on what we were doing, An unexpected challenge that I faced was the fact that there is a lot of hard to reach areas of the garden that we had to get. I was able to overcome the challenges because the organization gave us a multitude of tools that helped us aide us in the process.

During this volunteer experience I had to introduce the new trolls that have been introduced to the Botanical Gardens. I developed my people skills with this event, especially the ability to make a safe environment where kids can have fun. I learned the importance of sustainability through this event. Each troll has different traits that help emphasize the importance of nature. I worked as part of a team with one other person. This impacted my experience because I was able to make a connection with another person while also impacting the community. The leaders of this volunteering event gave us everything we needed to be successful. They did check ups throughout the day to make sure we were well equipped. An unexpected challenge I faced was the amount of children who wanted to participate in the painting activity. At times it would get hectic. We made sure to try to keep everything in an orderly fashion, which helped keep everything in check.