It's a 'Feel Good Friday'

Greetings! I am happy to be sending out my first official post. This blog will cover many topics related to community service. Many people want to be involved in their community, and perhaps already are. I want to make it a little easier by providing information on upcoming events for various organizations, unique ways to get involved and general updates from the non-profit world. I hope everyone enjoys these posts and finds it a little easier to go out and help the Las Vegas community.

To celebrate my first blog post, tonight I volunteered at ‘Feel Good Fridays’ hosted by Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. I have worked with this organization in the past through Rotaract, and am looking to get the club involved in the ‘Feel Good Fridays’ event. I decided to check it out first with my boyfriend David. We both found it to be a rewarding experience and a great way to spend time together on a Friday night giving back to the community.

We helped pass out baked goods, fruits and outreach packets to at-risk and homeless youth. It was truly an amazing experience. Dozens of children came to the outreach booth to pick up their tasty treats. I could definitely see the smiles on the kids’ faces as they bit into a cupcake or picked up a snack to take home with them. For some of these kids this was probably one of the only meals they will get today, and they were more than thankful for the food. What really surprised me though was how excited the younger kids were to receive the outreach packets which contained school supplies, soap, lotion and other basic necessities. I could see a few faces light up as they went throught their goodie bag and it reminded me of how much we take our basic necessities for granted.

‘Feel Good Fridays’ also gives the chance for children to interact with older adults in an informal mentor situation. The Community Relations Manager at NPHY, Larry Lovelett, really put his heart into making the kids happy. Several times I saw interacting with the kids, even arm wrestling with a few (we can guess who he let win those matches). He took an interest in each youth as an individual rather than looking at them as a statistic.

There are several ways you can participate in ‘Feel Good Fridays.’ Stop by the 7-11 on the corner of Maryland and Reno every Friday to donate some time helping pass out the food and packets or canvass the neighborhood to spread the word about this amazing program. If you are a first time volunteer, please come to the mandatory training session at 5:30 (which is actually very short). For returning volunteers looking to man the food booth or canvas the neighborhood, I suggest you arrive shortly before 6 p.m. The event runs until 7 or 7:30 p.m. based on demand. Any time that you can give to this organization would definitely be appreciated and worthwhile.

If you don’t have time to volunteer at the event, but can drop off some treats (baked goods, individually pre-packaged snacks, or fruits) on your way home from work, the staff at NPHY and more importantly the children would be very appreciative.

For more information on NPHY please visit their website at www.nphy.org or call (702) 383-1332. You can also click on the link to the left of my page.

My next move will be to contact our current Rotaract president to coordinate the clubs attendance at one of the ‘Feel Good Fridays.’ I hope to see you all out there as well!

Regards,
Rachel