MeritCare Hospital Main Campus ~ Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
I currently volunteer at MeritCare Hospital in the NICU. I am available Sunday nights to wash, fold and put away infant laundry, pick up pharmacy prescriptions, and assist nurses with crying infants. This is such a great opportunity, since I am interested in maternal/infant nutrition.
Moorhead Homeless Shelter
I, along with other members of SDA, have volunteered in a soup kitchen at a homeless shelter near our college. It was a great opportunity to give back to the community, as well as helping to provide a nutritious meal to those in need.
Dorothy Day Food Pantry
I have volunteered at the Dorothy Day Food Pantry, where individuals and families with minimal income can come to pick up food items, such as cereal, milk, and vegetables, for free. This was a great experience for me to see firsthand the stresses of not being able to provide a home-cooked, nutritious meal for family. We assisted the food pantry workers with organizing items on the shelves, and discarding expired products. We then got to watch happy families come to pick up their grocery items. This was such a rewarding experience to be able to give back to the community.
Great Plains Food Pantry
I volunteered at the Great Plains Food Pantry, where I assisted with labeling canned food items, boxing these products, and preparing the food items to be distributed to pantries, such as the Dorothy Day Food Pantry, for further distribution. This was such a great experience; I was able to see firsthand how food items can go a long way and the importance of giving to my local food pantry.
Nokomis Childcare Center
I was able to volunteer at the Nokomis Childcare Center, where I read books and interacted with children, and also assisted with interactive activities. This was a positive experience with an ethnically-diverse group of children.
Sunday School Teacher
After becoming confirmed, I taught Sunday School to preschool-aged children. In our classroom, the children memorized the Bible verse John 3:16, made many crafts, and played games. This was such a wonderful experience and I feel blessed to have been able to be one of the first positive influences for these children and to have had a positive impact on their faith experience.
