Service Learning Journals

Journal #1
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
August 28, 2015- October 14, 2015 5 Hours
I have been volunteering for IM Kids 3rd Meal since they opened in spring of 2014. As a
result of being a regular there was not much of an orientation period. IM Kids 3rd meal provides
a take home meal to children in Ionia and Montcalm counties. I was asked to help the summer
vistas spread awareness to local businesses in Carson City and Crystal. The Carson City-Crystal
school district has been receiving meals for less than a year so many business are not yet aware
of the program. Currently the district has 100 children that receive meals on school days.
Contact time with business managers or owners was used to educate about the program,
its mission and needs. Information provided an overview of food insecurity statistics, the
numbers of children served from local school districts in two different counties. Printed
information left with the business also encouraged community members to get involved through
donations of time, food or funds. Part of the education provided to community members included
information on areas that food insecure children are at an increased risk for. Food insecure
children have an increased risk for chronic illness, truancy, behavior problems and
developmental delays. All of which can have a negative effect on school attendance and
performance.
IM Kids 3rd Meal is 501(c)3 non-profit that relies on funding and donations from the
community. The summer and early fall months are times for IM Kids 3rd meal to have annual

fund drives. September is hunger action month, so my contact with local businesses also
involved leaving information for a portion of September 23rd sales go towards raising funds for
the program or selling dinner plates for one dollar. Each dollar raised provides an evening meal
for a food insecure child. When a customer purchased a plate, they wrote their name on it and
the business displayed the plates. Some of my volunteer time was also spent delivering flyers,
materials and dinner plates for their Eat Local, Give Local campaign. When deliveries were
made, I took picture of the displays and submitted a copy so they could display them on their
social media sites to gain more participation in the campaign.
The School of Nursing program goal of Generalist Nursing Practice was met with these
volunteer activities. Advocating for patients, knowing the community and providing education is
a large part of nursing. I believe that volunteering for this program has helped increase my
skillset for approaching people within the community to provide information and resources.
Providing funding and information to the community will help meet needs of the program. The
greater amount of education provided, the easier it is to make the time, funds and food happen to
fulfill the program goals of providing evening meals.

Journal #2
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
October 14, 2015- October 21, 2015 5 Hours
Volunteering for IM KIDS 3rd Meal gave me an opportunity to ask questions about the
meal planning and nutrition content. This led to an interchange where I spent some time
educating and discussing the amount of fiber, protein and calories in each ready to eat meal.

Their goal is not to follow exactly the USDA or MyPlate guidelines, yet to provide a nutrient
and calorie dense meal. Each meal has a sandwich, a drink (milk or juice), trail mix or granola, a
fruit or vegetable, and a small nutritious snack. Most meals provide at least 1,000-1,200 calories.
Due to the fact that they are publically funded they could not include information about MyPlate
in or on their bagged meals. They also need to be careful that people dont confuse them with a
USDA program. I inquired about food allergies, and unfortunately they cannot accommodate for
specific that at this time. They do provide information to the school and the parents that the
foods may contain peanut, egg, wheat and dairy products.
At least half of my time is was spent making sandwiches, which is the 9-1am spot of the
weekday. The sandwich is the main staple of protein that is provided in the meal. Usually the
sandwich will contain a large 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and some jelly or sliced meat and
cheese. They usually alternate days and types of sandwiches, so there is some variety day to day.
There is some variety to the bread provided which is in bread, bagel, bun, croissant and roll
form. Panera bread donates regularly and the food items are cut and prepared for sandwich
assembly in the kitchen.
While the focus of sandwich making is to provide nutrition, exposure to different subsets
of people throughout lifespan occurs in the diversity and variety in volunteers. Some of the
variety of people Ive worked with include transitional and occupational special education and
special needs students, retirees and homeschoolers. Some volunteers are there as little as once a
month up to three times a week. I find that the school aged children and young adult special
needs community have great opportunity to interact with the retirees that volunteer.
The School of Nursing program goal of Theoretical Base for Practice was met with these
volunteer activities. I used previous knowledge of nutrition and science to ask question and

educate on the variety of food and nutrition a meal should offer. While not being able to make
changes with USDA guidelines, I was able to give information on nutritional content that can be
used in practice, such as information on grains, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. This
volunteer time is also week spent working with the variety of people that represent different age
groups and needs, which can help with Collaborative Leadership. As a regular volunteer I am
able to help delegate tasks that can match the functional level of the volunteers physical and
developmental ability.

Journal #3
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
October 22, 2015- October 23, 2015 5 Hours
This stretch of time was spent cleaning, making and packaging sandwiches and preparing
and packaging celery. Sometimes there are enough volunteers for two sandwich making lines.
One those days we work in a U shaped table, with bread on the ends, sandwich toppings next
and people bagging and counting in the middle or bottom of the U. The sandwiches are sorted
into crates of 50 and sorted by school. If all four school are open, 466 meals are made a day.
There is a lot of adaptability and ingenuity that goes into the planning and execution of
this program. The celery was donated by a wholesaler and it looked like part of it had been
frozen at one point. The celery was cut, washed, packaged and returned to the refrigerator. It
sounds simple but took over 3 and a half hours. The celery was kept refrigerated so it was cold
to work with. All the less than appealing to the eye parts needed to be cut off. It was a good

representation of the work that goes into providing nutrition on a small budget, and using all
available resources.
It reminded me of another opportunity for IM kids 3rd Meal that occurred around the
same time. The offer was by a local apple orchard to pick and take all the apples they could.
I was unable to do more than share this on social media, so more bodies would volunteer.
Yet, behind the scenes they were not only trying to find bodies to pick apples, but storage
containers, storage areas, and trucks for transport.
One task when fresh produce is not available is to open up large cans of applesauce or
fruit and scoop them into little half cup portion containers. They then need to be labeled with
date and time and refrigerated. This cannot be do too far in advance due to the need for
temperature control once packaged.
Another task I do is cleaning. Food prep areas need to be wiped down, swept and mopped
after the area is used. There are padded mats to stand on while working, and they need to be
moved each time the area is cleaned. The countertops are wiped with a cleaning solution and
then wiped again with a sanitizer. Everything is clearly labeled.
The School of Nursing program goal of Generalist Nursing Practice was met with these
volunteer activities. Providing basic nutrition and fruits or vegetables in a meal is good way to
care for members of the community. This helps by meeting basic care needs which supports
better health. Another basic need is met with cleaning, as it helps halt the spread of foodborne
illness.

Journal #4
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
November 6, 2015- November 20, 2015 5 Hours
In addition to sandwich making this stretch of time was spent making trail mix,
packaging it, coloring bags, stamping and sorting them. Sometimes there are enough granola bars
donated to include them in the meals. Most days trail mix is included in the meals as a nutritious
dense snack. Many volunteer days are spent making trail mix or preparing bags between the
sandwich making shift and the meal assembly ships.
The trail mix includes two choices of pretzels, crackers and granola, cereal (such as
Cheerios or Chex), dried fruit or nuts. They are measured out into certain quantities and should
make up about 60 bags of trail mix. They usually fill a snack sized bag with enough room to
close it. They are counted and labeled with date and put on shelves. Often we do up about 3-4
bins. The students really love scooping these up.
Bags are usually decorated before being sent out with a meal. Many members of the
community spend time decorating bags. The bags are decorated with a variety of stickers,
stamps, crayons, markers and artistic ability. Some people glue pictures from magazines and
newspapers. I find it is truly a joy to read all the positive messages written on the bags. Some of
the bags have jokes or puns. Of course they often have University of Michigan or Michigan State
colors or designs.
The bags also need to be organized. They are stamped with a time to eat the meal by for
safety purposes. The bags are then sorted into stacks of 50 and rubber banded. The number of

bags needed per school, per day fluctuates, so they are not sorted per school until closer to the
used by date.
There is a large group of special education students that come in on Friday afternoons,
and I really enjoy coloring with them for an hour. It also gives them an extra adult helper. As
with so many needs there is a lot of one on one time with the teacher's aide and student to
address problems and issues that arise.
The School of Nursing program goal of Generalist Nursing Practice was met with these
volunteer activities.

Time and attention to detail was spent ensuring a nutrient dense snack that

is appealing to children. It is also positive to provide decorated bags and an example that
someone is spending time and interested in good outcomes for their day.

Journal #5
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
November 20, 2015- November 24, 2015 5 Hours
I volunteered this day to work with sandwich making and lunch packing, but ended up
with the bonus of being present during an inspection from the Mid-Michigan District Health
Department. The inspector went over various parts of the building and the process of making the
lunches. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has its
own standards for food regulation in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) regulations. Resources are available on various health department websites. Inspection is
intended to evaluate food illness risk factors and use public health interventions as a way to
protect each of us.

One part of the inspection process was spent on hand washing, gloves and hairnets. He
went over the protection items provided by the facility. Volunteers were also questioned and
evaluated for proper food safety technique. Another one of the areas he went over with
volunteers was to ask if anyone had stomach or respiratory illness recently, and to remind them
that they should stay home when they have an illness, so as not to spread it.
Facility inspection included checking proper cleaning, sanitizing and food storage. Dates
of food items were looked at to ensure proper containers and labeling. Storage temperatures of
food, freezers and refrigerators were taken. The inspector talked to us volunteers about storing
the sandwiches until the meals were packed, after assembly and marking the bags with an eat by
time. All of these interventions help make the food safe for the child eating it.
Some of his time was spent educating us on the 4 simple steps to food safety. These steps
include clean, separate, cook, and chill. After inspecting the facility, equipment and questioning
the volunteers the inspector needed to summarize his report. He then typed up his paperwork
and reviewed any changes that could be made to improve the process. I was not privileged to
this portion, as I am not an employee of IM Kids 3rd Meal or ISD or MISD, but they did pass
inspection.
The School of Nursing program goals of Health Care Environment and Collaborative
Leadership were met with these volunteer activities. As a nurse, regulations for environmental
safety need to be followed to prevent the spread of unnecessary illness. Working with outside
inspectors helps ensure safety and accountability of the facility. This was a good educational
experience.

Journal #6
IM KIDS 3rd Meal Volunteer
Daphne Fitzpatrick
November 30, 2015- December 4, 2015 5 Hours
Volunteer hours scheduled, in progress