Chase Kellogg

Prof. Mountz

HNRS 201 Service Learning

3 May 2021

The Rigors of Donation: A Service Learning Reflection

For my Service Learning Project, I chose to engage with the local community via the

church. By partnering with the Spring River Assembly of God in Riverton, KS, and the

Southeast Kansas Ministerial Alliance Thrift Store of Baxter Springs, KS, I was able to set up a

food drive to help provide for those in need in the Southeast Kansas region. With assistance from

pastors Roger and Lori Scantlin, as well as store owner Ann McCorkle, I was able to outline a

plan that would both involve members of the church in a service/donation project, and to

ultimately do genuine good for those in the community. Thanks to the church and store I was

able to donate to an organization who knew the people in the community and could do, as James

Whitford stated, “something more meaningful and less harmful than hand cash out a window”

(Whitford).

Beginning in late February, I started the project with plans to provide a service to the

Spring River Assembly of God church. Pastors Roger and Lori Scantlin explained to me their

upcoming theme for the year’s sermons was going to be acts of service. As such, they wanted to

involve both the youth and adult church in this, and thought that my project would be an

excellent way to get that involvement. For the actual project itself, the two suggested setting up a

food drive to benefit the Southeast Kansas Ministerial Alliance Thrift Store. After meeting with

the owner of the store, a woman named Ann McCorkle, I learned about the store’s food pantry,
and how they helped to supply sustenance to people in need in the community. I also learned that

the store was falling on hard times, due to a loss of federal grants that had previously aided them

in their accumulation of food for the pantry. They were relying almost solely on donations from

churches and other people in the community. For my project, Ann suggested getting the youth

excited about the donations by setting up a “contest” with prizes for the winners. I thought this

was a good idea, so I decided to split the Spring River Youth into Middle and High school teams.

I spent the following weeks setting up this contest, in which I would speak to the youth each

week to announce which food items were to be donated and set goals for how many items to

bring in the following week. I also announced prizes for the winning teams, which I had hoped

would get the youth excited for the challenge. The project very much helped me to gain a better

understanding of the donation process. I quickly became immersed in all the struggles, setbacks,

and roadblocks that go along with a service project, and my eyes were opened to the difficulty of

doing non-profit work. However, along with the difficulty came the awesome experience of

seeing the true kindness and determination exhibited by both the donors and the store employees.

I learned a lot through this process. One of the main lessons I had to come by was that

donating isn’t just a magical act that happens on its own. I initially thought that the youth group

would be more excited by the donation process. I assumed the prizes and the thrill of friendly

competition would drive them to use all their available resources to try and win. However, I

made the mistake of not providing additional reminders throughout the week. As a result, a week

would pass, and most of the youth would forget about the drive. Those who did bring in food

tended to only bring in a handful of items, often resulting in weekly tallies of single digits. I was

surprised by this, and disappointed as well. I knew a large part of the problem rested with myself,

in that I had not energized the kids enough and had not found a better way to put out reminders.
Also, I set goals that were initially too lofty based on the resources the kids had. While these

lessons set me back somewhat, they also helped steer me in a new direction. Because the youth

donations were not amounting to what the store needed, I turned to the adult congregation,

giving them the same presentation I had given to the kids. However, with the adults I simply

explained the store’s predicament, and did not try to set up a competition. To my surprise, the

adults at Spring River were much more willing to donate freely than the youth was in exchange

for prizes.

Looking back on my experiences, there were parts of the service process I really enjoyed,

and other parts that I found tedious or nerve-wracking. I loved getting to meet Ann McCorkle

and seeing how she and the other ladies at the store ran the pantry. I enjoyed delivering and

gathering the collection boxes as well as tallying the donations and even buying some of the food

myself with donated money. These were all things I felt comfortable doing, and they gave me a

sense of accomplishment. However, on the flip side, having to run my own show was somewhat

scary. I didn’t have much experience with public presentations, and I was especially nervous to

speak in front of the adult congregation. I also felt that I didn’t do a very good job energizing the

youth, not even with the snacks/prizes offered. However, despite these misgivings, those who

were willing to give did so generously, and I never failed to have people in the church willing to

offer me assistance with the project, even in things as simple as carrying boxes out to my vehicle.

In addition, the thanks I got from Ann and the employees at the thrift store was very touching,

and made me feel more accomplished in the work I’d done.

Based on what I’ve learned, I think community service is something everyone should try

engaging in at least once. It is a very eye-opening experience in regards to both the generosity of

donors, and the determination of project volunteers. I realized that it takes more than just one
person to complete a service-project like mine, and that not everyone is going to be invested in

the donating process, even when incentivized. I am glad to have had this opportunity, and have

decided that I would like to continue aiding the thrift store as long as I can find people willing to

donate.
 Works Cited:

Whitford, James. “Some Donations Harm More than Help.” The Joplin Globe, 15 Dec.

2020, p. .A07.