RHC: Stepping up
Doing my part in civic leadership by joining a nonprofit board.
Matching event
In the beginning of the process to joining a non-profit board, I attended the matching event where I had the opportunity to chat with many local non-profit boards and see how they operate.
Matched!
I matched with "Some Other Place." This non-profit is dedicated to the "catch all" needs of the community. From here, I attended my very first meeting under the guidance of Ms. Deborah Drago. I remember feeling a little nervous and unsure since this was definitely something out of my comfort zone. However, everyone on the board was extremely kind , welcoming, and excited to see a young face among them. Already in meeting one, I was able to learn about the general protocols of meetings like taking roll, taking minutes, opening and closing words, as well as the layout of budget, fundraising, and event reviews.
the thanksgiving store
The most memorable experience I had volunteering with Some Other Place would have to be the work done with the thanksgiving store. This "store" was actually a massive collection of donated food items for thanksgiving dinners that people in need in the community could come take for free for their families. There was everything ranging from pie crusts, turkey vouchers, cake mixes, stuffing mixes, potatoes, onions and other vegetables, to canned goods of every kind. There was so much, that it actually required several moving truck loads, and a slew of volunteers present for several days to organize, stock, and set up. When I was helping set up, I thought that there was no way a dent could even be made in the amount of donated foods. However, when I showed up to help out on the actual day the store was opened, I was absolutely shocked at the amount of people present. There was actually volunteers strictly dedicated to parking and traffic control due to the amount of community members present. This struck me in a different way because it really proved that there is ALWAYS people in need, and always a way to help. In my own community, I had no idea of the amount of people who would have been without a thanksgiving meal if it had not been for Some Other Place.
Last meeting of 2020
This meeting sticks out to me because, while we did not know it at the time, it would be the last meeting of 2020 due to COVID-19. The meeting itself was a general one: going over current bank accounts, funds, future events, the current state of SOP, etc. However, the announcements after were quiet a shock. It was hard to hear that SOP would need to close for a while. Myself and the rest of the board were immediately thinking about what would happen to the people who relied on SOP on a day to day basis? Many homeless members of the community relied on SOP for showers, food, and a place to be. Others relied on SOP to pay the bills at the end of the month, or to transport a loved one to the hospital and pay their hospital bill. This arises a greater concern: what happens to the people in true need during a pandemic? This sector of society might not have a house with a roof and a bed and food and family members for company to stay at during a quarantine. They certainly do not have the ability to go to the store and stock up on food, or buy the materials to sew cloth masks, or maybe even the ability to hear from reliable news sources. This thought definitely puts things into a greater perspective during the coronavirus pandemic. This instance, and throughout my entire year on a non-profit board, my bottom line lesson learned would absolutely to be thankful for what I already have, and to always seek for a way to help out someone else.
Non-profit board symposium speech: (02/18/2020)
Hello everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mackenzie Savage
and I am a sophomore Bio-pre med major in the Reaud Honors College. When I heard
about the stepping-up initiative last year, I thought it would be a great way to give back
to the community, as well as earn some volunteer hours and honors points along the
way. Since day one of participating in this program and truly getting to know the
people, vision and mission of the board in which I serve, I have learned more than I
would have ever imagined.
Right from the start, at the matching event, I really got to see how involved and
interconnected our community is. I had the chance to mingle with board
representatives from non-profits ranging from the food bank, local art museums,
programs for education, and even animal therapy boards. Going in, I knew I wanted to
align myself with a non-profit rooted in healthcare as it would fit in with my education
at Lamar and ultimately my career path. Surprisingly, when I left the matching event,
the programs on the top of my list were extremely diverse and out of the box from what
I thought I would enjoy the most. Getting to converse about the work of each
non-profit made me excited and drawn to the possibility of a new journey outside of
my comfort zone. I ended up joining the board of “Some Other Place” under the
direction of Ms. Drago and Ms. Paula O’Neal. The best way to describe Some Other
Place is honestly with its name. It is another place to turn for those who are in need. I
know that sounds vague, but Some Other Place is kind of a catch-all non profit
dedicated to the ebb and flow of the needs of our community. If there is a homeless
person who needs a good meal, a shower, laundry done, or just a place to be, he or she
can go to Some Other Place. If there is a single mother who cannot pay this month’s
bills while taking care of her child, some other place will take care of it for her. If
someone cannot afford a bus ticket to get to a job interview, some other place will make
sure they get to where they need to be. Whether it is someone's wheelchair they cannot
afford, help finding an apartment, or help facing a drug addiction, Some Other Place
takes on these diverse needs with open arms.
While serving on the board of Some Other Place, I have learned all about what it
actually takes for a non-profit to run smoothly. I could talk all day about what these
needs entail, but I think the most important is budgeting. Collaborating with other
members on my board about which money should go into which bank account, or
what holiday program should receive more fundraising, is only the beginning. The hard
part that requires a tough heart, is when the board has to say no to a request for help.
Some Other Place receives tons and tons of problems every single day and at the end of
the day,​ it is a non-profit​. Every penny in the budget comes from donations and
fundraisers. This means that each day, Ms. Paula and other members of Some Other
Place have to decide; who gets the drug addiction medication? Who gets the wheelchair?
Which homeless individuals get to eat what meal tonight? Which of the communities
children get gifts from Some Other Place during the holidays? These questions are
things I would have never even started to think about when joining the stepping-up
initiative.
Those tough daily decisions aside, each meeting is not all daunting tasks and impossible
solutions. Sometimes, I get to hear stories of success. Like the homeless man who got the
bus ticket from some other place to get a job as a truck driver, and ended up months
later honking on the horn of his truck back in Beaumont, bringing a different homeless
person he met to get assistance from Some Other Place. Or things like the
“Thanksgiving store” set up by this organization, which provided hundreds of local
families with the groceries they needed to have a Thanksgiving dinner. This project
sticks out in particular because I was actually able to donate and help set up the store
prior to Thanksgiving. It was absolutely amazing to see just how much people care, but
even more shocking to see just how many people are in need. Groceries showed up at
Some Other Place by the truckful, but on the day of the store’s opening, it literally took
traffic control and overfill parking to get in all of the families who qualified for the free
food.
My time with Some Other Place started with a spark to help our community grow. But
this spark has turned into a realization of just how many people are in need. As students
at Lamar, we only see the surfaces of our community, and frequently it is only the
showcased parts that we think of when thinking of Southeast Texas as a whole. But at
the end of every day, who is taking care of the people behind the scenes? The sick, the
homeless, the poor, the disabled, the addicted, the uneducated, the people in true need?
These are the members of the community we need to turn our attention to, and it can
start with programs like the honors stepping-up initiative. My mindset and gravitation
towards civic leadership and engagement, has grown immensely since joining a
non-profit board. I have learned the clinical side of being a board member like proper
protocols during professional meetings, the order of each meeting, how to read meeting
minutes, budgets, and term summaries. But I have also experienced being a part of
something you cannot explain on paper, or in words. The feeling of true service and
gratitude towards this community is unexplainable. Honors points and the high impact
practices are great experiences, but these are only the initial reasons to consider
participation. True personal and professional growth comes from being a part of
something that truly matters, such as, programs like the stepping up initiative. I
personally feel more well-rounded, and even more grounded in ways outside of the
classroom and has especially grown my community engagement. You really never know
who you will meet participating in a non-profit board; Each connection I have made
has been equally powerful and memorable. Talking to the members of my own board
has been full of many stories of the rich history of Some Other Place and just how much
this non-profit has grown over the years. I am proud to be a member of the stepping-up
initiative and would encourage you all to do the same. Every step I have taken with
some other place has humbled me, grown my desire for service, and opened doors I
would not have imagined before this experience.
Thank you for giving me the time to share my story today. If you have any questions
about my experiences, the process of joining a board, or anything else about the
stepping-up initiative from a student perspective, please feel free to reach out