November 18, 2017
The Service Committee of the gamma candidate class held their first event on Saturday, November 18th, 2017. The committee organized the event through Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that seeks volunteers to help them build affordable houses for the community. The event was held at 3504 SE 21 Ave, Gainesville FL, and ran from 8:30 am till 11:30 am. Due to time constraints and prior commitments, not many brothers and candidates were able to make it out to the event. Over the span of three hours, our group of eight worked tirelessly to complete the assigned tasks. We helped clear out the bushes around the property, cleaned the equipment trailers, bagged trash, measured wood, and helped with setting up the walls of the house. We met a lot of people from different charitable groups and overall had a great experience learning about construction and what these families go through to get their houses built. Our biggest challenge was cutting down the larger branches of a fallen tree with a flimsy hand saw and lumbar cutter. There were no spare axes or machine saws, so it was hilarious to see the team try to cut the branches off using their body as weight.
This event was challenging to organize as Habitat for Humanity only offers specific hours of volunteering on Saturdays, but it was definitely worth the challenge. I met the woman who is going to live in that house and we had a heartfelt conversation about the struggles she has faced. I have done volunteering work in the past, but this was the first time I felt like I made a direct impact on someone’s life. In doing this event I rediscovered why I chose pharmacy as a career path and my faith in humanity was restored.
BY: SOLMAZ KARIMI
The Service Committee of the gamma candidate class held their first event on Saturday, November 18th, 2017. The committee organized the event through Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that seeks volunteers to help them build affordable houses for the community. The event was held at 3504 SE 21 Ave, Gainesville FL, and ran from 8:30 am till 11:30 am. Due to time constraints and prior commitments, not many brothers and candidates were able to make it out to the event. Over the span of three hours, our group of eight worked tirelessly to complete the assigned tasks. We helped clear out the bushes around the property, cleaned the equipment trailers, bagged trash, measured wood, and helped with setting up the walls of the house. We met a lot of people from different charitable groups and overall had a great experience learning about construction and what these families go through to get their houses built. Our biggest challenge was cutting down the larger branches of a fallen tree with a flimsy hand saw and lumbar cutter. There were no spare axes or machine saws, so it was hilarious to see the team try to cut the branches off using their body as weight.
This event was challenging to organize as Habitat for Humanity only offers specific hours of volunteering on Saturdays, but it was definitely worth the challenge. I met the woman who is going to live in that house and we had a heartfelt conversation about the struggles she has faced. I have done volunteering work in the past, but this was the first time I felt like I made a direct impact on someone’s life. In doing this event I rediscovered why I chose pharmacy as a career path and my faith in humanity was restored.
BY: SOLMAZ KARIMI