Haunted House Adventures

On Monday, my fraternity, Delta Upsilon, designed and created a haunted house that we set up inside our house in order to raise money for College Mentors for Kids. It was officially declared that we would actually create a haunted house one month before it was actually set up. This, obviously, is a very short time period to begin planning a haunted house. As can be reasonably assumed, there is a lot of stuff that goes into creating a haunted house. All the materials have to be gathered, the design and layout has to be completed, and all the forms have to be completed and confirmed. This meant that we had to work fast, and we also had to still design a great house. During the first 3 1/2 weeks we got the materials, created the design, and completed all the necessary forms. The only thing we did not do was actually start building the haunted house... This meant that we had one weekend to build the entire thing before we opened it on Monday. To make matters worse, this was homecoming weekend so the house had to look great for the alumni. Because of this, we did not even start setting up the house until Sunday morning. We worked tirelessly all day. It was chaotic because everyone was in such a rush to get the thing put together. However, after much hard work, the haunted house was finally complete and was definitely ready for action the next day.

When Monday rolled around we were all very nervous. We did not know exactly how well the whole thing would actually go over. We grossly underestimated its popularity. We were supposed to work from 7-11pm, but we ended up working until the last group came through at 12:15pm; that is how busy the haunted house was. Overall, we raised $3600 and had over 720 people come. The haunted house was a great success and everyone absolutely loved it.  

BINGO!

Today I helped out at the Veteran's Home  by assisting with bingo. This was my first time at the Home actually working, the other times that I have been there I only had my orientation and training. So, as one could imagine, I was pretty nervous about working for my first time because I generally am not very good at jumping into to new environments or interacting with people that I have never met before. When I first got there, I walked to the volunteer officer, got my badge, and signed it. I then headed up to the auditorium to assist with bingo. There were a plethora of other volunteers there that were very warm and welcoming and helped me fit right in. Every person that I talked to was nice, informative, and helpful. They directed me towards my next tasks and always helped me along the way. I was never left uninformed or completely clueless. This was a great beginning because it definitely allowed me to open up much faster than I normally would have.

Once I opened up fully I could complete my tasks much easier and way smoother. The first task that I undertook was to put the $2 bingo winnings into envelopes. This was not a rigorous task by any means, but it was good because it helped me meet all the other volunteers and become acquainted with them. After this, I bring patients from their rooms to the auditorium for bingo. This task was easy as well, but it allowed me to become acquainted with the types of people that live here and that I am going to be around. It also helped me learn the layout of the rather confusing labyrinth of a building. I met some very outspoken and outgoing people, and I also met some very inward and introverted people. These people sort of upset me because I did not particularly know how to act around them. But over time, I began to feel a lot more comfortable and laid back. Overall, it was a great day for many reasons. The main one being that I opened up more and I now feel a lot more comfortable in the Home and working with the residents.

Greek Service Day

This weekend I partook in Greek Service Day. This day consisted of all the fraternities and sororities getting together and going about doing community service projects that were assigned to them. There were many different community service events going on that day, and no two groups went to the same place. The day began at 9 am and ended at 2 pm. It was a great way to get an easy five community service hours.

                My group boarded a bus at 9 am and headed off to Lafayette to assist in a charity run/walk for the disabled. Upon arrival we assisted with blocking off the roads that the run was going to take place on. We stood there and made sure no cars entered the lane so that the runners could make their way around the track safely. After we did that for an hour we assisted with the assortment of games that they had set up for those that attended, both kids and adults. We assisted there for most of the day doing various activities and moving all over the place. Once the games drew to a close they had the awards ceremony. After the ceremony we helped clean up the plaza by picking up all the tables, breaking down the tents, packing up boxes, and moving cones. The day, overall was a great success on the part of the charity organization and all the volunteers involved.

                I think that Greek Service Day is a great idea. There are so many Greek members and it is an easy way to get all these people to come volunteer. A volunteer group this large should most definitely be utilized way more often. It is such an effective way to get so much service done in one day and help out a lot of places that do not necessarily draw that many volunteers.