This wasn’t my first time volunteering at school on a Saturday-but this day was definitely different. Our school hosted Community Vision Day, and a ton of organizations came to visit our campus. My role was to serve as a liaison for participants and help pass out lunch. Out on the quad, we held a resource fair with tables set up by a wide range of organizations, including: Assembly Member Sade Elhawary’s Office, Bike LA, Branded Arts, Brotherhood Crusade, CADRE, Council District 9, Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD), EduCare/Beyond the Bell, Family Source Partnership, LAUSD, Homies Unidos, Labor Community Strategy Center, The Place Program, SAJE, Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI), Slauson Connect, CD9, St. John’s, Students Deserve, Supervisor Holly Mitchell’s Office, Vision to Learn, the Wellbeing Center, Department of Public Health, and the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation (VSEDC).
Along with the resource fair, there were several workshops happening throughout the day. Some of the sessions included:
- “Personal Safety” by the LAPD 77th Street Area Vice Unit (Sergeant Juan Garcia, Room 210)
- “Block Safety” by Ben Casar and Olivia Shields, presented by Community Coalition and Urban Peace Institute Chapter 2 (Room 212)
- “Hawkins Safety” by Pastor Cagle, presented by Strong Shoulders (Room 213)
- “City Services (Neighborhood Safety)” by Bryce Rosauro, presented by Council District 9 (Room 215)
- “Traffic Safety” by Lili Trujillo, presented by Street Racing Kills (Room 216)
- “Tenant Rights (Home Safety)” by Mariana Paredes-Luna and AmyLinda Nevarez, presented by SAJE (Room 217)
My day started around 8:15 AM helping set up and guiding visitors around the campus. I made sure they had everything they needed like tables, chairs, water, and anything else to help them feel welcome and taken care of. As parents and students began arriving through the 60th Street entrance, other volunteers helped with check-in and directions. Later in the morning, Dr. Castillo asked me to take photos. I normally use a Nikon camera from journalism class, but I had to call my mom to bring my personal Canon. The photos came out… okay, in my opinion, but I did my best. Most of the day I was either snapping pictures or helping make sure guests were accommodated.
When lunchtime rolled around, I helped pass out Pollo Campero which we had catered and it was fire. But they didn’t just bring food-they also brought the fun. Pollo Campero had games set up where people could play and win prizes, and they even brought their mascot to interact with everyone. Even better, Coffee Del Mundo was giving out iced coffee. They had caramel and vanilla flavors. The caramel was a little on the bitter side, but the vanilla was a perfect balance of sweetness and boldness. I ended up drinking two. Apparently, that’s the caffeine equivalent of four Red Bulls and let me tell you, I was so jittery. Still-10/10 coffee. I’ll definitely be buying from them again.
After lunch, things slowed down. The resource tables started packing up while the second round of workshops began. That’s when volunteers like me started carrying out boxes of fresh produce to the front of the school so families could take some home. There was so much produce left over that we ended up handing it out to anyone in the community who came onto campus.
Overall, I had a great time. I even got a nice crewneck sweatshirt out of it. But honestly? I think I enjoyed it more because… well, I got paid to be there. But that’s a story for another time.
