Running head: SERVICE LEARNING POST-ACTIVITY

Service Learning Post-Activity

Katherine Sheppard
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing
NUR 4215

Honor Code:
On our honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment or test, and I
pledge that I am in compliance with the BSMCON Honor System.

Service Learning Post-Activity

The Virginia Food bank (2014) provides to those who would go hungry
without it; it helps to provide food to residents across the Peninsula (The Virginia
Peninsula Foodbank, 2014). I chose to do this activity because I wanted to help
the vulnerable populations of the needy in our community. The Virginia Food
Bank provides to the vulnerable population that is not able to afford food. Some
of the population can be homeless but I didnt expect this to be the case for all of
the people who are in need. By sponsoring a Food Drive, you are helping to feed
over 200,000 children, adults, and seniors every year. Currently 1 in 7 persons in
our community is food-insecure. (Central Virginia Food Bank, 2015). During
this experience I was able to serve local community members of Hampton,
Virginia. Many of the population that I was able to serve were elderly African
Americans. I did not see many young children. There was a blind man that I was
able to assist as well. There was a form that helped to verify who was in need
and who qualified for the food based on questions from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
My hopes and expectations of this activity were to gain experience
working with those who are unable to afford food. My hopes were to overcome
my own personal bias towards the population that is in need. Nurses should treat
all people with the same respect regardless of their circumstances. Nurses should
help empower others to do the same. I feel that I was able to maintain my
expectations during this experience. I did not realize the variety of people that I
was going to meet so that was very interesting for me. Some things that I was able
to observe were many very thankful people to have the assistance that I was able

Service Learning Post-Activity

to provide. The process that the people used in order to get their food was rather
quick. People gathered in a line to get their food. The way I could demonstrate
that this occurred was that I was able to help pass out food to a neighborhood. We
were at an apartment complex that had a club house. In the club house we met, six
to eight volunteers, to pass food out. The line of food contained many U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved foods. I observed many people as
they said thank you to all of the volunteers who helped them through the process.
In past experiences
This service learning assignment has provided me to use the principles
discussed in the article, Servant Leadership: Enhancing Quality of Care and Staff
Satisfaction that include: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion,
foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building
community (Neil & Saunders, 2008). Many of these qualities that provide for a
good leader address the values held within Bon Secours. I was able to maintain
my principles in this activity. I was able to help a blind man through the process
and help educate others on the importance of their vegetables. It amazed me how
many people passed up on the healthy food. The process was quick so listening
and awareness was done but we were not able to have a long conversation.
I feel that I have learned a lot from doing this activity and it was very
exciting for me to do as a nurse and a member in the community. Some things I
was able to offer by doing this activity is my kindness. I was able to interact with
all sorts of people of different cultural, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic statuses.
I did not see any issues with the interactions with any of the people who attended

Service Learning Post-Activity

the food drive. I was able to educate others on the importance of a healthy diet, as
many of the people refused the free carrots.
Nurses empower people every day. I believe I will be able to get just as
much from this community as they will get from me. I will help to educate this
vulnerable population by sharing what I know and taking back what they teach
me. This has been a great opportunity that I would like to do again in the future. It
has helped my nursing career and my personal lifestyle in areas of understanding
others. We are all so much alike but many people look at the appearance of
someone or judge them based on their financial status. I feel that I will be able to
interact better with others in the community and as a nurse.

Service Learning Post-Activity

References
Central Virginia Food Bank. (2015). Retrieved from Feed More:
https://feedmore.org/food-bank
Neil, M. W., & Saunders, N. (2008, November 9). Servant Leadership: Enhancing
Quality of Care and Staff Satisfaction. The Journal of Nursing Administration,
38(9), 395-400. Retrieved May 26, 2015, from
https://bsmcon.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?
course_id=_2233_1&content_id=_91013_1
The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. (2014). The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. Retrieved
May 26, 2015, from http://www.hrfoodbank.org/