Joshua Cook

I served food to the community at the Salvation Army's Center of Hope in Wilmington. I worked along with a few other people in the kitchen of the center. We served shrimp tacos with rice and beans, along with dessert. Everybody worked very well together, the volunteer in charge of us told us what we were supposed to do and showed us how to do it. Once we started serving the food, we found a rhythm with each person doing their assigned part of the meal. This experience connected to my interest of food service and value of serving people. I have worked in food service before, and I love the feeling of feeding people. Everybody needs to eat and my goal is that they enjoy their food. So it is a great feeling help fulfill that need for people. I learned more about the Salvation Army's role in providing housing and food for people who are in a time of need. Prior to this I had only been to the Salvation Army's thrift stores. In the future, I think I would like to work in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Participating in this community service event was a great way to remember why I would like to work in these industries.

I took part in picking up litter on and around Wrightsville Beach. We were given trash bags and trash picker uppers, and then returned the trash to other event workers to weigh the trash. There were lots of people who worked in pairs. One person would hold the trash bag and the other person would pick up the trash with a trasher picker upper. I didn't really know anybody there so I just worked by myself. This experience connected to value of picking up litter and interest in the natural environment. I hate seeing litter when I am out and about, especially in a beautiful natural environment. By picking up trash, I feel that I am helping take care of God's creation and preserve it for myself and other people to enjoy. I learned that a lot of UNCW organizations care about keeping the beach clean. This makes sense since I know a lot of students come here for the beach. In general, I feel like a lot UNCW students enjoy nature so cleaning up the beach makes a lot of sense. This experience made me think a lot about the community I would like to live in and serve. I have found that Wrightsville Beach holds itself to a different standard than other beaches, as a result I think people try to keep things looking nice.