A Best Buds Kind of Weekend

Layers upon layers upon layers!

So, I have had the best couple of days working with Best Buds. For starters, this past Thursday was my first day of the mentorship I have just started working at Rock Creek School in Frederick, MD. The mentorship is every Thursday and I do activities with some buddies from the ARC of Frederick County. 

Working with people with intellectual disabilities is one of my callings. Ever since I got involved Freshmen year it has become one of my passions and I feel so blessed to get the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. On Friday, I got to dance the night away working with L'Arche and it was so awesome. We had a sing along and I learned a new dance move called "The Kate." I love working with that community and am so blessed to work with them once a month. 

And finally one of the events I've been looking forward to was Special Olympics on Saturday! The Mount has been hosting Special Olympics for 25 years so it was a great anniversary, with great athletes, and great competition. I was working on Long Distance running as a timer in the morning, and then I hung out with the power lifters and then helped out at flag football. It was a very chilly day but it was a wonderful experience. 

My favorite moment of the whole day was when the champion power lifter went up on stage, lifted his max weight successfully, and when he put the bar down his coach was right there and he gave her the biggest hug. They stood their embraced as I stood there tearing and it was just the best moment. Its hard for me to even put into words the raw emotion that I felt, but it was so pure and so true and I wish I could bottle it up and give it to you all. 

So, that was a bit of my weekend. 

EJS Service Day

 This past Saturday, some Mount St. Mary's U students (organization: Educators for Justice Society) and I participated in serving the Pen Lucy Action Network's Power in Dirt program. We teamed up with the Ember Cast and Serve the City  for the day, and together made a difference!

We left the mount at 7:20am for our drive into Baltimore. On our way down we noticed that we were only three minutes from the destination site, but we were surrounded by well-landscaped mansions and nice cars. It felt like within a blink of the eye the town's demographics went from rich to poor in a moment.

EJS Team

It was almost unreal how drastic the change was and at the same time I couldn't help but feel angry about it.
There are people in their stone houses and perfectly kept lawns living less than a mile from a community that is in need of some outreach and compassion. But, I channeled my emotions into the project at hand.

So what did we do? There are nearly 30,000 abandoned properties in Baltimore City (Facts). We worked with Power in Dirt and helped the beginning stages of transforming an unused lot into a pretty park.

STC, Ember, and EJS 

We cleared up excess dirt, picked up trash, raked leaves, dug up concrete--all to prepare to build a fence around the lot. The main rep from Power in Dirt explained that when he first started working on the lot the grass was out of control, their was a lot of trash, and they had to clear a couple tons of dead tree from the back of the lot. Talk about a drastic change in appearance!

We also drilled the holes, leveled and put up the fence, and mowed the lawn. The lot started looking more and more complete as the day went on. It was very rewarding seeing the fence completed at the end of the day.

But, before we left to go back to The Mount we walked 2 blocks to a local park. We checked out the local neighborhood and made some observations on our way. For me, this was probably the best part of the day. I love to look around at the environment and see what community I'm serving. We then had a really great discussion about the day and how we felt about the work we did. It was nice hearing from my fellow members and other volunteers on their thoughts about the project!

Overall, this was probably one of the best Saturdays I have had in awhile! I can't wait to see what the park looks like when its finished!

Please, keep the Pen Lucy Community and Power in Dirt in your prayers 

as they finish the park. 

Thanks STC and Ember Cast for giving MSM's EJS 

a great opportunity to make a difference.

- Alex  

Nika What????

Early this week one of my Educators for Justice Society members, Lauren educated the Mount about a water product called Nika... an eco-friendly product that goes to a good cause! 

So what is it? "Nika is eco-responsible and donates 100% of its profits to poverty alleviation." For the Spring/Summer 2012 Nika partnered with Jedidiah Clothing, a humanitarian-based fashion company. Both organizations' sales (Nika's water/other products and Jedidiah's clothing line for Spring/Summer 2012- Nika-inspired) will be used to support clean water, sanitation, and education projects that give critical assistance to help thousands of families improve their life! 

According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 million people die each year from PREVENTABLE, water-borne diseases. Can you believe that? 3 million people's lives are wasted each year because of something that can be prevented! 

Nika helps out in other ways than just supporting clean water... For every 98 bottles made they plant a tree which makes them carbon neutral and all their bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic. 

Please visit nikawater.org for more information! This is a great cause and maybe it was just me but the water tasted so much better knowing that it was going to help a good cause!! :) 

Thanks, Lauren for opening our eyes to new ideas and ways to give back to the world!!

- Alex