On November 13th at about 7 AM Carissa Miyano picked me up and we were off to Saint Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. I expected to be packing some boxes and possibly organizing some food. This was correct, but it was much faster pace than I had anticipated. From the moment we walked through the door they put us to work. We were one of the fist groups there so we began by writing the now dreaded number 49 on countless boxes. After finishing that surprisingly grueling task, we moved on to building the large boxes that we would later be packing the food in. This involved unfolded them and creasing them so they could be put into holders. Once we accomplished this task, the larger groups started arriving. It was at this time that the real fun began. We were quickly placed into an assembly line. Myself being the large muscled, tough young man that I am, was placed at the rear of the line stacking the filled boxes onto pallets to be carted off. We spent a good amount of time doing this until finally our supervisor hastily shut down production. This signified the end to our first shift. The next group came in promptly after and we began the process all over again. Once this shift ended, we stayed after and assisted in the clean up process. They had the girls sweep while I moved the pallets and garbage off with a pallet jack. Once we completed the clean up we were done!
My second activity was also with Saint Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. On November 20th I went down to Norterra with Heather Schroeder and we assisted in collecting turkeys for needy families for the Thanksgiving holiday. We assisted in counting the turkeys and carrying them to the truck to be delivered. After three hours of this, it signified the end of our service!
Summative of Civic Duty
Civic Duty is a citizen’s responsibility an individual has to their country (elcivics.com). This can mean a variety of things including joining the military, voting for the countries leaders, serving your spot on a jury, simply paying your taxes, and abiding by the law (elcivics.com). It also covers the activities of citizens doing helpful volunteer work such as handing food out to the homeless, working in a shelter, and providing assistance to those who are less fortunate.
This expression can come through voting but it also comes through how certain individuals spend their time. Without countless volunteers organizations such as Saint Mary’s Food Bank would not be able to operate. These kinds of organizations are completely run by volunteers. Without their help, these organizations would fail. It is the responsibility of citizens to keep these organizations alive because they provide for the wellbeing of the less fortunate citizens. In America
Following the law is a very important civic duty of Americans (elcivics.com). It may not seem like real duty but if no one followed the law, there would be mass chaos. Everyone makes a choice everyday whether or not to follow the law, and when most decide to abide, it allows the nation to continue on its normal track and ensures the safety of everyone. It is even a civic duty of government leaders to follow the law. They are the ones setting the examples and creating the laws for the others to follow. Without their civic duty to this task, the entire system of laws could collapse.
All citizens are called to jury duty at some point in their lives. While not everyone enjoys it, it is a vital aspect of America
Military service is the most honorable civic duty a person can undergo. They are placing their lives at risk to protect the freedom of America America
The act of paying taxes is even a civic duty of Americans. Even though it is unlawful to not pay them, it is still a highly beneficial task citizen’s perform. It is a vital responsibility of Americans to pay their share of taxes. This money is used to pave roads, fund schools, pay for prisons, fund the military, and many other important needs of society (civicfest.org). Without this money the country could not function.
Civic duty is something America America
(2009). Civicfest.org!. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from http://www.civicfest.org/
Works Cited
(2007). Civics and Civic Responsibilities. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from http://www.elcivics.com/civics_1
My Experience/The Implications on Society
I chose to perform civic duty for my country by going to Saint Mary’s food bank. While there I boxed thousands of pounds of food and fed thousands of families. But I was not the only individual there doing their part. There were hundreds of people assisting the organization, most of whom were there simply because they thought it was a good cause. While you are packing food, one does not quite comprehend what the implications are, but when you are finished with your shift, the supervisor comes into the room and informs you the exact number of families you have fed. It was in the thousands. The craziest part is, I was only there to achieve my ten required hours, a majority of those people were there going above and beyond their normal civic duties and feeding people who they had never met and asking nothing in return for it. They had no hour sheets or required time they had to complete; they were simply there to lend a hand to society. The implications of their service will be far reaching and much appreciated by the needy families who receive the aid. Without this kind of service, these families would starve. So in all reality, by performing just a few hours of civic duty here at Saint Mary’s, you have saved thousands of lives. It is very powerful implications.
These services exist more than I thought they did before working at the organization. I had assumed that if I call a few days in advance they will have plenty of spots available. Four spots are all they had. I was shocked to say the least. People book these organizations out just to help a fellow American out. There were churches there, organizations, and high school students who were not asking for compensation. I asked is it was like this every weekend and she said that normally they are booked even sooner than they are. It should be understood as well that all this work people put in was only on the boxing stage. There are countless other volunteers who then deliver the food to the families and do all the processing work. Some people may not donate their time but they may donate the food the organization needs. It is run based on donations. The amount of people who have to donate to keep the organization running is very large, yet people come through and go beyond their normal civic duties and provide the food for the families. While I was collecting turkeys, one man brought up nearly twenty of them. He said he did that every year at this time because he believed in the cause so much. That isn’t a cheap helping hand, but he goes out of his way to provide. So yes, this service exists on a large scale.
Society is very much helped by this service. There are thousands of families in the Phoenix
Working at Saint Mary’s Food Bank Alliance is a great way to go above and beyond your civic duty. It allows you to see what families struggle with everyday and gives you the opportunity to lend a hand to those in need. The implications of a service like this are far reaching; families are able to feed their children and themselves. I find this service to be vital to society. It should be the honor for an American to help a fellow American, if I was placed in a situation where I was in need of assistance, I would hope someone would do the same for me.
Hooray For Pictures!
This was the stacking team Tyler and I worked with. We're all such manly men. :)
This is the second shift assembly line we participated in. Alana can be seen right in the middle. I was again at the end stacking those oh so heavy boxes. The group in this picture is called the Phoenix Philanthropists. All they do is go around and do community service.
This was our first shift assembly line. They were almost all from desert credit union.
This is us in front of the truck where the kept all the turkeys.
