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June 7th, 2013 lnchin14

I can’t believe that the first week of my internship is already over; the week flew by! On Monday morning I arrived at the office and Alex, the other Holy Cross intern who is working on the Youth Summer Programs, showed me our office. The morning consisted of a tour of the United Way of Central Massachusetts’ (UNCM) office and some introductions to some of the employees. Everyone seemed very friendly and it will be great to get to know them all throughout the summer.

This week mainly included orientation and training to the computer programs as well as gaining a better understanding of UNCM and the Day of Caring event. Throughout the week I learned about the different projects and involvement that UWCM has in the community. If you would like to learn more, you can check out their website: http://www.unitedwaycm.org/. The majority of my time this week was spent canvassing the old Day of Caring files (this year will be UNCM’s 20th annual Day of Caring!) as well as examining the websites of different Day of Caring events nationwide. As I began to read the different descriptions of the projects and Day of Caring events, I started to have a clearer idea of what I would be planning and how I could work to organize a successful and enjoyable event for the community. In the coming weeks I am excited to begin working to plan one of the region’s largest one-day volunteer events!

This week Alex and I also had the opportunity to attend the 2013 Massachusetts Conference on Service and Volunteering and it was hosted by YOU Generate and the Massachusetts Service Alliance. If you want to gain more information on these organizations, you can check out this website: http://www.mass-service.org/.  At the conference we started the day by listening to keynote speaker Wendy Spencer (CEO, Corporation for National and Community Service), then attended a few workshop sessions, and watched as the Service and Volunteerism awards were presented. One session I attended was hosted by Holy Cross’ own Michelle Sterk-Barrett and Lauren Buckley of the Community Based Learning (CBL) office, which was about CBLs, but more from the perspective of non-profit organizations. I enjoyed the workshops I attended and I believe that they helped me to learn about different aspects of various volunteerism projects and how they are a part of the community.

Last week was a great introduction to the UNCM and the Day of Caring and I am eager to watch the Bruins and relax this weekend before heading back to the office next week and delving into organizing the Day of Caring!

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