An Inspiring Day of Service
FIUTS students from around the world collaborated on four different volunteer projects on MLK Day.
Guest post by Michael Carrizosa
The Judkins P-Patch volunteer team
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 42 FIUTS students from 12 different countries participated in this year's Day of Service, helping out four different organizations serving the Seattle community. Michael Carrizosa, a University of Washington student from Mexico who is also the FIUTS Student Programs Assistant, wrote this blog post about his experience.
We started the day in very inspiring way, hearing about Dr. Martin Luther King’s personal accomplishments and more importantly his selfless action in defense of the American people. We were reminded that the problems of the past still prevail in our days, but don’t be discouraged! For we also know social heroes still exist.
Hard at work at the Judkins P-patch
We had the opportunity to hear two great examples of modern social activist that continue to help minorities using MLK’s principles. After such inspiring speeches it was time to get involved in this national celebration of community. We broke off into four different groups, each one of those having different goals for the day. I signed up for the Judkins P-Patch activity, a community gardening program of the City of Seattle. At first I signed up just because I wanted to engage in an outdoors activity; however, during the day I found a deeper significance in this activity.
Led by FIUTS staff member Tom Lang, a group of 19 students from all backgrounds departed from Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center. While we waited for our bus, we had the chance to get to know each other a little better by playing some icebreakers. We finally took our bus and after 20 minutes, we arrived to the Judkins P-Patch located in south Seattle. We got to meet the people in charge of the P-Patch area. They explained that the mission of the p-patch was to share love of gardening, cultivate friendships, strengthen neighborhoods, increase self-reliance, improve wildlife habitat, foster environmental awareness, relieve hunger, improve nutrition, and enjoy recreational and therapeutic opportunities.
The group showed great enthusiasm and eagerness to contribute to their community. We got our hands in immediately and started off by moving a bunch of rubble and trees’ waste. Though it was cold at the beginning of the activity, we warmed up pretty fast. The goal of the activity was to eliminate the edge of the lot and clean it of garbage; the work was pretty tough and physically demanding but our enthusiasm prevailed. Almost right away after we started working I notice a harmonic sense of community and collaboration within the group; even weather contributed to the activity as the sun was shining most of the time. That made me happy!
As the activity came to an end, I started reflecting on how hard it actually is to maintain a program like this and ultimately how hard it is to harvest food products. Our help had made an impact! An even though time wasn't enough to finish the desired result, we realize how impactful united community members can be.
Thank you to Michael and everyone who participated in this year's Day of Service! In addition to the Judkins P-Patch project, FIUTS students also participated in projects at Lettuce Link, Full Life Care, and the Cascade Women's Program. Here are some photos from those projects:
