HLTH 643 LU Servants Heart Power in Collaboration Discussion Reply – Description
Please respond to the following discussion post with answering the below questions:
Review classmates’ threads describing their experience noting any differences or similarities you had in your experience. Add any point(s) you feel are useful.
After reading your classmates’ posts, provide encouragement of the importance of working in an interprofessional setting– this can come from the Bible, text, and articles.
DISCUSSION POST
I believe what makes someone a good service member is love and a servant’s heart. The best service member must have a love for what they do, a love for the people they are reaching, and a willingness to serve. Service is love taking action. In Galatians 5:13, God calls us to serve one another, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
For my service project, I worked with Meals for the Elderly and Ballet San Angelo. The mission of Meals for the Elderly is to serve the homebound elderly of Tom Green County and Miles with one hot, nutritious, home-delivered meal each weekday while ensuring their individual well-being through personal contact.2 The goal is to enable the elderly to live independently, in their own homes, for as long as possible.2 In addition I worked with Ballet San Angelo (BSA), a nonprofit organization that trains pre-professional ballerinas, it is dedicated to the advancement and preservation of ballet, community service, and movement education. BSA works as educators and artists, to provide hope and health to the community.3
At Meals for the Elderly, I worked with Dason Tucker, the executive director, and Jessica Behringer, the director of development and marketing. Dason is involved in every aspect of the program. He has a minor in nutrition. Jessica does not have any background in nutrition because her background is in marketing but has learned about nutrition through working with the program. They truly have a servant’s heart, they not only perform their duties, but they will also stop what they are doing and deliver meals if they are short on drivers that day, to ensure no one goes without a meal. At BSA I worked with Erin Lane the director and Susan Kinney the development director and other members of the staff.
My specialty is working with young children, I did not have any experience working with the elderly population, and to be completely honest, I had no idea where I fit into their program. After meeting with Dason and Jessica they expressed to me they are hoping to expand their audience to a younger age because most of their donors were over the age of 50. They want to begin educating children and young people about their program because they will hopefully become volunteers and donors when they get older. This just happens to be my target audience.
The goal of my project was to educate young children and their parents about nutrition and meals for the elderly. Teaching children about nutrition is important so they can begin developing healthy habits combating the onset of disease, keeping them independent as they age. Teaching children about Meals for the Elderly and how they can help out, will educate them, encourage a heart of service, and hopefully encourage them to have a healthy life and support the program when they are adults. For my project, we partnered with BSA’s children’s program. Together we decided to teach about nutrition and Meals for the Elderly, 20 minutes a day during a 5-day-a-week summer camp for all 5 camps. I would speak to the children about nutrition and about the program. The students completed coloring pages about the different food groups and activity sheets. The students were able to complete community service by decorating paper bags in which the meals are delivered. At the end of the week, during the mini-show, I was able to talk to the parents about Meals for the Elderly and share how their children were able to help.
One thing I learned is Meals for the Elderly is not just about feeding the elderly, Dason and Jessica said “We are more than a meal”. They provide wellness through social interaction and meeting their nutritional needs. A huge need in West Texas is staying cool in 114-degree summer heat, Meals for the Elderly provides boxed fans to any individual in the program that needs one. This led to my other service project I am currently working on, a fan drive with BSA to collect fans for Meals for the Elderly. I am working with Susan and Erin to promote this program to the BSA family. This will reach a younger demographic because all our students are under the age of 18 and this will give the students an opportunity to get involved and make a difference.
Dason and Jessica were so encouraging and welcomed me to their program. I believe they made this service project fun and enjoyable. They wanted to know about me and encouraged me to use my talents to support their goals. The BSA team was so encouraging and open to supporting other programs in the community. Both organizations are very well known in our community, and both focus on health and wellness, they just have different approaches. It is important that programs with similar goals team up in the community to reach as many people as possible.
I learned that I have very special talents of my own given to me by God and God can use my talents. I specialize in working with children and other people have their own talents. Jessica is so talented with marketing and advertising and Jason has such a friendly presence that is beneficial for all his community interactions. I know very little about marketing and working with the elderly population but together with our talents we can reach a multitude of people and improve the quality of life to so many.
I always like to have a Bible verse that supports my ministry. One of the Bible verses I chose was 1 John 3:17-18, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth”4 I shared this verse with my team when we came together on an agreement about the service project to have the students decorate meal bags in summer camp. I feel it is specifically related to my service project because children love so fully and we are teaching the children to take action in that love. My team was a great example to these children of what service really is. I hope we have inspired them; I know my team has inspired me.
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