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Second Harvest - Giving Hope Food Pantry

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This month I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Giving Hope Food Pantry of New Orleans with my friend Teddy! The Giving Hope Foundation was started by Troy and Tracy Duhon, and they established the Food Pantry of New Orleans by transforming their car dealership building into soup kitchen. The pantry serves almost 200,000 hot meals and over 1.7 million pounds of groceries to low-income seniors and families each year. We were able to participate in putting together nutritional food boxes with meat, produce, dairy, and bread. To efficiently make as many food boxes as possible, we first organized and filled shopping carts with bulk supply of each food item including non-perishables, cereals, fruit cups, and more. In an assembly line fashion, we filled all the boxes with one food item before moving onto the next. At 11 AM, all the families arrived and filed into the warehouse for us to load the boxes onto their carts. The families would then bring their box back to their vehicles and g
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March Thoughts

These past few weeks in the Pharmacology program have been exceptionally demanding, from not one, but two, Neuropharmacology presentations and the three exams for the Psychology module. For me personally, Neuropharmacology has been the most difficult course this semester. The papers we read are difficult to understand and require an immense amount of dedication. Finding a paper for each of our presentations was an obstacle on its own, my group members and I spent several hours looking for papers that met the requirements and we were passionate about. For our first presentation on strokes, I felt very intimidated because I did not have the same previous knowledge on the topic as my other teammates, I am not very passionate about strokes, and I managed to pick the most challenging portion, the results and methods. This caused my presenting abilities to suffer, I was nervous, stuttering, and not at all myself. I ended up freezing while I was presenting and was truly not sure if I was goin
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Shabbat Volunteering

I had the privilege to return to a Chabad event, their weekly Shabbat dinner on Friday, as a volunteer to babysit my new little friends. The rabbi’s wife was impressed with my ability to connect with her two youngest daughters, Miriam and Devasha. She was traveling to New York, and needed to make sure the girls were fed and taken care of while the rabbi led the Shabbat dinner. Unfortunately, during Shabbat dinner, it is frowned upon to use your electronics, so I was unable to take pictures with the girls. However, I did learn an orthodox Jewish tradition that those observing Shabbat do not partake in anything that requires energy or anything that is considered “work.” It is a part of their Sabbath to rest and worship from Friday evening to Saturday evening. I had a wonderful time getting to play with girls and reading them books. It was a unique experience to enjoy a cuisine I am not familiar with. I felt honored that the young girls remembered me, and that their mother was confident i
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Challah Bake & Brunch

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This month I had the opportunity to participate in the Challah Bake & Brunch for Chabad Grads & Young Professionals with my friends from the Pharmacology program. We shaped the dough into different braids, 3-strand, 4-strand, and 6-strand, followed by an egg wash and toppings.  All of the challahs made were donated to Food Share NOLA. It was a rewarding experience to be able to give back alongside my peers as well as a welcoming experience to participate in another religion's customs. While the challahs were baking, I took the opportunity to make friends with the children there. I taught the children nursery rhymes and how to play duck-duck-goose. I felt like I truly connected with the community and my peers all while being able to serve others. I would definitely return to an event hosted by the Chabad to serve my community and to play with my new friends!  3 Hours 
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Grace Place

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Community Service Hours 8th Annual National Feed the Hungry Event: 2 Hours  Girls in STEM: 2 Hours  Grace Place: 8 Hours This month I had a special opportunity to return to my hometown community and serve alongside my younger sister, Amina, at Grace Place soup kitchen for Thanksgiving lunch. A local chef guided preparation of a traditional Thanksgiving meal that included turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and most importantly, pecan pie! I able to be a part of set-up, slicing pie, serving food in the cafeteria serving line, and clean-up. It was my first-time volunteering for the soup kitchen portion of Grace Place, and I was not sure how many people would gather for a Thanksgiving meal or were in need of one. It was truly a warming experience to see the community get together not only to share a meal, but to serve one another. It cultivated a sense of belonging and unity among us all and made me grateful to have this opportunity. My favorite part was being abl
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Girls in STEM

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On Saturday, October 29, the Tulane University Undergraduate Science Department held the "Girls in STEM" event. This event allowed my peers and I to not only volunteer, but to support young girls in science. My role for the event was to photograph all the groups while participating in experiments. Being a photographer for event might seem like a small role, I felt that it was rewarding to capture the young girls being excited about learning and science. I believe the moments from the event can encourage other young girls to be curious about the way things work around us.  The event bought elementary and middle school aged girls together from all over New Orleans. I believe an enriching experience was created by demonstrating to the children that there are many ways science works and shows up in our everyday lives. As a strong advocate for providing opportunities for children, I believe this event cultivated a safe and inviting environment to learn.                         Ser
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8th Annual National Feed the Hungry Event

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This month I had the opportunity to participate in the 8th Annual National Feed the Hungry Event through the Tulane BMS. I believe it is imperative to give back to the community you belong to because it provides a valuable experience that fosters connection. In a world where we are consumed with excess, I believe no one should go hungry. The goal of the event was to prepare, package, and deliver over 500 meals to five different shelters that serve the greater New Orleans area. I was assigned the role of "sandwich maker," where I assembled the turkey sandwiches. I would love the opportunity to participate in an event of this nature on a broader scale as well as being able to take the time to visit with those receiving the meals. I have learned that you may not always recognize that those in need can be right in front of you, so it is important to always be kind and serve those around you.  12 PM - 2 PM; 2 Hours
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