Matthew 25 Ministries YoS Synopsis

Site Description

Matthew 25 sends donations—clothing, otc medicines, etc.—to disaster victims and poor countries around the world. Donations come from individuals and corporations and are sorted by volunteers before shipment.

Daily Tasks

Sort through clothes, organize medical donations, inspect sanitary items, package crates, receive donations, or perform maintenance

Location & Schedule

11060 Kenwood Rd, Blue Ash, OH 45242

Located in Cincinnati, OH

Volunteers Mon-Sat: 9 AM-4 PM

Major Takeaways

The world is currently in crisis. Between hurricanes, tornadoes, pandemics, and wars, there are innumerable victims worldwide who are separated from their families, from their daily routines, and from their most basic necessities.

During my time at Matthew 25, I packaged care boxes and Christmas presents for tornado victims in Kentucky, organized clothes for the impoverished in Siberia, and helped supply medicines for those in refugee camps who have limited access to the healthcare they need.

Working somewhere like Matthew 25, you’ll broaden your awareness of world issues and contribute to something bigger and more meaningful than you’d ever imagine, touching so many lives and hearts across seas or within your own state.

NSI Food Pantry YoS Synopsis

Site Description

NSI collects food and hygiene donations from individuals and local organizations

Daily Tasks

Package boxes of dry and cold food, re-stock shelves, or deliver boxes to customers outside

Location & Schedule

1950 N 4th St, Columbus, OH 43201

15 min walk from Bowen

Volunteers Mon-Fri: 9 AM-2 PM

Major Takeaways

While Ohio State’s campus is supported by dining halls and special meal plans, 1/8 Ohioans are food insecure, and Columbus is home to so many facing this issue. NSI collects donations and serves almost 800,000 meals every year, their contributions growing every year due to increased support from the Columbus community.

Visitors of NSI come from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, and home-life situations. You can never judge who may be food insecure, and you should never assume satiation. Working at NSI, you’ll gain a better understanding of Columbus’ hunger issue and foster opportunities for better personal commitment to security.

Career

Coursework to Career:

I’ve made some recent changes to my career path that deserve some notice, most notably, that I have recently switched into the English Department as a Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy major! I have an interest in writing and producing communications on behalf of a nonprofit agency, so I decided that this switch would allow me to take more relevant courses and truly hone my specific skills. So far, I’m taking several courses focusing on rhetoric that will enhance my analysis and improve the intentionality of my messaging, as well as pursuing some more unique opportunities through the major. One of my most interesting classes this semester is an internship through the Digital Media Project within the English Department that will provide me with opportunities to create media for clients within the Department that I can include on my professional resume. At this time, I am also a grader for a second-level writing class in the John Glenn school of public affairs, so I will have relevant work experience in editing and policy writing to add to my resume as well.

Club to Career:

As far as extra-curricular go, I am first and foremost a member of the Mount Scholars, only hosting the occasional occurrence at other clubs. Mount provides students with opportunities for leadership development formed through involvement in leadership conferences, project roles, and inclusive leadership series. Mount also encourages students to connect with their community and explore ways to positively impact social issues through active service, exploring these issues through student-led service and long-term projects with the community. Supporting my professional goal to work at a nonprofit, the leadership, awareness, and philanthropy gained through my involvement in this club is essential to my eligibility as a hire in this field.

Coach to Career:

Within the John Glenn college, I bonded with one of my teachers in a highly positive way and created a sort of mentorship-mentee relationship with them. This professor has advised me on my writing, what kinds of internships to seek out, and has even acted as a glowing reference for my application to the Washington Academic Internship Program. This individual, although no longer within my college, will continue to act as a mentor and someone whose opinion I trust, and I am grateful to have someone like this to lean on.

In-Person Service: Matthew 25 Ministries

As a second-year Mount Scholar, I am currently underway on my Year of Service project (YoS). The YoS project is comprised of 75+ hours of service at one or two locations, and is designed to promote meaningful service, build community connections, advance leadership skills, and foster empathy. The organizations that I am working with for this project are Matthew 25 Ministries and the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Matthew 25 takes donations from local businesses and hospitals, utilizing volunteers to sort and prepare items for delivery oversees to areas affected by natural disasters and other forms of crisis. The Mid-Ohio Foodbank focuses on grocery distribution to impoverished or struggling individuals in their immediate community, supplying not only food, but necessities like diapers, dog/cat food, or masks.

The picture above is a representation of my time spent at Matthew 25 Ministries so far. The box to my right was my project during one shift: containing thousands of over-the-counter medications that we sorted, documented, and prepared for shipment overseas. My experience with both agencies so far has been extremely educational, and this photographed ay in particular was so interesting to me. At Matthew 25, I’ve learned more about crisis response, and how things that some of us take for granted—like vitamins, collagen, or probiotics—can be vital to those who don’t have access to large hospitals or proper nutrition.

G.O.A.L.S: Second-Year

My G.O.A.L.S, an acronym for the five things I should accomplish during my time here at Ohio State (Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement), are as follows:

Global Awareness: Because I am interested in becoming a part of more diverse and inclusive environments to grow my cultural knowledge and appreciation, I will become more involved with cultural organizations on campus. I am already a fringe member of the Cultures and Travel club, an organization that hosts student-led trips to significant and educational cultural events around Columbus such as a Greek festival and Orthodox church tour downtown, and will become more involved with the organization as a full member soon.

Original Inquiry: As an invested member of the John Glenn Public Affairs college, I plan to apply for the summer 2022 Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP) in order to participate in advanced coursework and receive a high-level internship. Once I am accepted to this program, I will apply to work with a prominent non-profit organization in D.C, possibly the League of Women Voters or another women-based group, in order to advance my knowledge on policy and advocacy in the field.

Academic Enrichment: My time at The Ohio State University will be rigorous and exemplify the lifestyle of a student looking to be above and beyond expectations. My graduation year is currently set a year early (2023) due to my diligent and precise course scheduling, and I plan to stick to this timeline without deviation for the remainder of my OSU career.

Leadership Development: As a member of the Mount Leadership Scholars, I am surrounded by opportunities to flex my leadership muscles and grow as a leader. Currently, I am a Mega within the program, mentoring a first-year Mountee within the program and helping her grow into a better leader. Additionally, within Mount, I have constant opportunities to attend seminars, meetings, discussions, and roundtables which cover a wide variety of leadership topics.

Service Engagement: Throughout the year, I will commit to continued service with two organizations: Kindergarten Corps and the Loveland Food Pantry. Alongside Kindergarten Corps, I will aid the West Broad Elementary School site twice a week in the areas of literacy and reading. During the winter break, I will also work with my hometown Loveland Food Pantry to supply meals to families in need in the community.

Year in Review: Freshman

As the academic year comes to a close, I can proudly say that I made it through my first year at Ohio State in one piece despite a global pandemic. Back in August when I moved onto campus, I was a strategic communication major from Loveland, Ohio looking to find a passion. I became involved with the Mount Scholars program and on a weekly basis, we talked about and did things that really mattered. We discussed how to be anti-racist, black policing in the US, how to honestly serve a community, and the plague of Asian hate.

What my time on campus and with Mount has taught me is that I want to be there for people in need and that I have the drive to make society a better place. At the close of the second semester, I made the decision to switch my major to a B.A. in public management, leadership, and policy pursuing a specialization in nonprofit management. In terms of goals, not much has changed, but my route has been moved in a beneficial way and my passion has strengthened. My experiences this past year of virtual interaction with my community from arts & crafts with the Brick ford living center to engagement with the YMCA Women’s program have influenced me to try harder to make a difference in the world I’m living in, and I look forward to returning to campus in the fall and pursue this new road.

Legacy Week Lesson Plan

Project Rainbow Lesson Plan pt 1

For 21 years, Mount Scholars have hosted Legacy Week as a celebration of Ruth Weimer Mount’s commitment to service. During legacy week, 6 teams (each focused on specific social issue; education, poverty, health, global, abuse, and environment) design and host 2 service projects (12 total) and attend projects of other groups to create a serving community.
This year, I have the honor of being a lead builder for Team Global. Because of Covid and distance regulation, Team Global is pursuing 2 online projects this February which will be hosted over zoom. The first, titled Missing Maps, will involve students learning how to use mapping software to chart un-mapped areas of Africa. The work done during this project will help analysists around the world see into these regions and assess what supplies or aid that they might be needing. The second project, titled Project Rainbow, is in association with the Columbus Refugee and Immigration Services. Student volunteers will create heart-felt cards for mentees of the CRIS program across 13 schools in the Columbus area, advocating for positivity, inclusivity, and diversity (messages supported by the organization as well as Mount).
As a lead builder, I have been in charge for the past month of organizing and creating the lesson plan for Project Rainbow. In the lesson plan, we determine specifics of the event, define our purpose, plan a budget, and create marketing for our project. The above link is to our first draft of lesson plan 1. Our project is nowhere near finished, and the project changes slightly every day due to new obstacles and better ideas, but we are well on our way to a successful day of service!

Service Over Zoom: The Little Things in Life

In a COVID world, connecting with people in the community and engaging in a narrative is vitally important. As a member of the Mount Leadership Society, I had the opportunity to attend a fun and safe online service project. The event, which took place over zoom, served as a fun chance to meet up with new people, get out some creative energy, and bond with others going through the same pandemic as us. Residents of Brickford Living Center along with Mounties participated in fun fall themed crafts- making paper trees and cottonball ghosts. The experience was of course altered by the need to socially distance, however, their smiles were still radiant through the screen and it was great to see how much the residents enjoyed this activity and break from their isolation.

The important lesson to be learned from this experience is that even small and seemingly inconsequential things can completely change someones day, and at the end of the day, its the happiness of others that matters the most. Because they world is so messed up right, every small moment and every smile counts.

 

All About Ella

My name is Ella Kiley and I am a first-year at the Ohio State University. I am a Strategic Communication major with plans in the future to minor in music.

A little about my past, I am from Loveland, Ohio where I attended Loveland High School. During my time there, I was heavily involved in the music department as a member/leader of the marching band, show choir band, musical orchestra, and basketball band. In addition to music, I was involved in a couple of service-oriented clubs including NHS and Do it in a Dress (an organization posed toward furthering young girls’ education in Africa) and I had a brief stint in the French Club and Yearbook.

Here at OSU, I am a proud member of the Mount Leadership Society Scholars program and I am currently on the Media and Archives Committee (MAC). I hope in the future to join a band or a small group so that I can keep up my musical skills and continue my involvement in the arts.

After Ohio State, I hope to get to work with an arts/music-based non-profit to advocate music and creative learning throughout grade school. Because music was such a large part of my young experience, I want to help ensure that with budget cuts and other disasters we can still find ways to offer these outlets to children and keep the arts alive in schools.