Trip to the Ronald McDonald House - Allison Jegla

        Friday, November 16, members of the Rotaract Club of Philadelphia volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia.  Several members had never been to the house before, so one of the staff members took us on a brief tour of the historic Swain mansion that now houses up to 45 families per night.  It was incredible to see all of the work that gets done primarily by volunteers, and how dedicated everyone is to making the families’ stays as pleasant as possible.

        When the families finished eating, a few of the children wandered over to make tissue paper flowers, snowflakes, Indian hats, and paper hand turkeys with the Rotatacters.  The kids were eager to do the craft projects, and they excitedly displayed their creations to their parents.  Later in the evening, Rotaracters had a chance to interact with some of the parents as well, as they joined in on the fun and assisted some of the youngest children with the craft making.  It was immediately clear how thankful the families are that the Ronald McDonald House exists, since it allows them to stay in the same city as their ill children.  It was so inspiring to hear the families talk about their experiences in the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia, and the Rotaracters were all happy to have shared the evening with such amazing people.      

Allison Jegla

Rotaract Helps Habitat for Humanity ReStore! - Ross Carrington

Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia recently opened its newest ReStore in Philadelphia, a used home furnishings and building materials store that collects donated home items in decent condition and sells them at modest prices. Shamil Manek and I went to help out at ReStore's grand opening two weeks ago, where we were quickly welcomed by music, dough-nuts, and the store's fun and energetic staff. While store traffic may have been a bit slower than the staff expected, there was no shortage of shoppers strolling down the aisles and browsing through the store's donated wares – ranging from sofas and ta-bles to sinks and file cabinets. While there, Shamil and I were charged with transporting large items, such as file cabinets, to customers' vehicles, as well as wiping down furniture sets. The most amazing part about Habitat's undertaking with ReStore is that all of the profits are used to construct affordable housing in the community. It demonstrates the organization's ability to find innovative ways to provide the local community with both affordable home items and affordable housing.

Philly Cares Day - Cara Cugley

Philly Cares Day was a very fulfilling and enriching experience. Shamil and I met up with the awesome Rotaractors from Columbia who woke up at 4:50am to travel down here to Philly to give us a hand. God bless them for that! After a crazy adventure with Septa involving trains and shuttle buses, we finally met up with Anna and her boyfriend who were kind enough to pick us up at the train station and drive us the rest of the way to the school.

Once we got to the school, we met the principal of the school, along with all the other teacher, parent and student volunteers who came out to give a hand. The principal told us a little bit about the school. It is in the process of moving its current library into a new library in the basement and converting the old library into smart classrooms. Most of the Rotaractors and some teachers were designated to work in the library where we made boxes and proceeded to pack up the shelves of books into the boxes. Outside, the rest of the volunteers worked on fixing up the gardens by pulling weeds, planting flowers, and raking up leaves.

We also had plenty of time to talk with the various other volunteers and it was so nice to get to know them. The Columbia Rotaractors are fantastic and were so fun to hang out with all day! It was a great bonding experience. Overall, the entire day was a great experience and I recommend that everyone come out and volunteer for it next year!