LITERAL
The source which really helped me complete my independent component was Rebecca Gifford, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing for my 4th interview. She was able to affirm all of the research I've done up to this point in time, and I've enjoyed conversing with her not only in a formal setting.
Here you will find my independent component two log in which I have recorded the activities I performed during every volunteer session.
For my independent component two, I decided to dip into my mentorship hours (which are gathered by volunteering at the Uncommon Good office) and use those to fulfill the 30 hours required. In those 30 hours, I've been able to learn some important things about public image, connections, patience, and progressive techniques.
INTERPRETATIVE
For the most part, my time spent volunteering at Uncommon Good has been consumed by a variety of office tasks. The most prominent involves calling, emailing, and mailing students which are part of the program and reminding them about upcoming meetings. This entailed drafting documents to send, cross referencing contact information, working with spreadsheets, etc.. Sometimes, I got the opportunity to help some of the staff members with whatever it was they were doing that day: things like sorting through emails and responding to the appropriate ones, setting up for meetings, going to the post office to drop off documents, etc.. From this section of my volunteer experience, I was able to take away that internal order must be maintained at all times. This in mind, I think of my peers and I, and fear for our success, seeing as how many of us are pretty scatter-brained and disorganized.
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| Nancy Dufford (left) and Shelly Randles (right) Staff members |
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| Carlos Carrillo My mentor |
Apart from office work, I had two opportunities to partake in things other than sorting through papers. The first was the "farm program" which I will talk more about later, but basically, Uncommon Good has planted a vegetable garden in my front yard. I helped prepare the land for the planting. The following pictures show what it looks like now (after about a month and a half).
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| A view of the garden from my roof. |
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| Another view of the garden. |
The other activity which I took part in was Uncommon Good's trip to LA for the celebration of "El Dia Del Nino." Because most of the families who are involved are Latinos or of Latino descent, it was decided that this would be an appropriate trip to take. We took a bus to Olvera Street and stopped at La Plaza de Culturas y Artes, where we toured a little museum which was dedicated to Mexican American culture. I feel like this was a very good way for Uncommon Good to promote community and closeness.
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| Some traditional hats used by Mexican American field workers back in the day. |
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| A very old record player |
APPLIED
My essential question is: "What is the best way for an educational nonprofit organization to raise funds for resources to encourage underprivileged students attend college?"
This individual component has greatly helped me solidify some of my answers which include: progressive business practices, and good public image.
One thing I was able to observe was that Uncommon Good does a very good job of keeping up a healthy and attractive public image. First of all, Uncommon Good's founder (Nancy Mintie, who I interviewed a while back) is also founder of the Inner City Law Center created in 1980. She comes from a successful altruistic background. This appeals to the public because it is easier to trust someone who is experienced than someone who isn't. Furthermore, apart from Uncommon Good's mission to help underprivileged students, they are also a green organization. Their newly constructed whole earth office building is among the most eco-friendly designs out there. It adds substance to Uncommon Good's we-will-make-a-change image has attracted the attention of many potential donors/grant writers.
Uncommon Good is also making an effort to move in the direction of progression by creating a farming program which earns them a small amount of revenue (instead of just writing grant proposals and hoping for the best). What is especially resolute about this program is that it combines environmental awareness, social awareness, health awareness, and all while making a profit. Through the farming program, families of the students who are in the Uncommon Good program which would like to participate are able to sign up, and if they are eligible, hired workers will be given the go ahead to plant a serious vegetable garden on the family's property. The vegetables are grown organic without the use of pesticides or genetic modifications. At the end of their season, the vegetables are cultivated and then sold at a farmers market. The profits go towards Uncommon Good, who puts the profits back into the community). The vegetable comes at no cost to the family, and the family also gets a portion of the vegetables. All this encourages healthy eating, community awareness, sustainability, and independence. And Uncommon Good gets a bit of a profit. The goal is to establish a network of these vegetable gardens and expand in order to make more profit and have the community eating healthier and locally.
In all, independent component number two has greatly helped me move forward in my topic by providing me with real world examples of some of the techniques which I've been researching. It's reassuring to actually be in the middle of something and not just stick to reading about it.
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