Running head: COMPLETED SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT

Your name:
Victor C. Pacis

Date:
November 9, 2016

Discussion of completed service learning project:

Eight hours of volunteer work was done at the Movable Feast of Maryland on September 25 and 26, 2016.
This writer helped as a kitchen and clerical assistant. As kitchen assistant, support was extended to the
institutions permanent kitchen staffs and other volunteers to package in-house prepared food. As a
clerical assistant, assistance was given so a dietician can plan, prepare, and package/assemble nutrition
supplements per individual clients nutritional needs and/or health condition. These packaged meals
(usually about 5-7 meals) and supplements are delivered to the clients homes by volunteer drivers.

Evaluation of the selected intervention:

Selected intervention and goals:
Provide assistance to a non-profit organization that caters to people living with HIV/AIDS in the
preparation and/or packaging of nutritious food and supplements that will be made available to the said
community population of interest. This intervention will support the following goals:
1.
Provide nutritional support to clients with HIV/AIDS to effectively combat and mitigate the effect
of their disease (e.g. immune suppression and weight/mass loss) and its co-morbidities; and,
2.
Combating AIDS reduces household economic viability, and vulnerability is increased with poverty
(Louch, 2014). By providing food security, clients can focus their energy and saved financial resources into
providing for themselves and their family members other needs of daily living.
Evaluation:
The provision of nutritional support through packaged goods and supplements to clients with HIV/AIDS
and other chronic conditions and who are homebound is effective in maintaining their physical and
nutritional status and contributes to the clients food security. The evaluation of the effectiveness of
these interventions is done by a team of registered dieticians through regular home visits to conduct faceto-face assessments of clients (e.g. anthropological measurements), and adjusts dietary supplements (the
intervention) as needed. Not only does the organization is able to obtain direct feedback from clients,
this also ensures that the success of the organizations supplementary meal intervention is measured. In
addition, home visits by dieticians can assess other things; e.g., living conditions, accessibility to food and
care and support (Medical nutrition therapy, n.d.).

COMPLETED SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT

Discuss how this project contributed to professional collaboration & community engagement:
Non-profit organizations rely on volunteerism and community engagement to help other members of the
community. Volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. This is a very ideal place for
professional collaboration because each individual or team can have unique strengths and talents
characteristics that are vital to meet the needs of aggregate populations (Allender, Warner, & Rector,
2014, p. 334).
Allender et al describe collaboration as an endeavor characterized by shared goals, mutual participation,
maximized resources, clear responsibilities, and set boundaries (2014, p. 336). People are drawn to
volunteer for these reasons and more. Community engagement is hinged on collaboration, volunteerism,
and the reasons why people volunteer. People are motivated to donate time, money, and/or effort
without expecting something in return. According to McKee (2003) among the top reasons why people
volunteer are to network with other professionals, believing in the cause, and to satisfy personal and
community duties and responsibilities. By bringing people to work together for a cause, this project
therefore contributes greatly towards professional collaboration and community engagement.
Reference:
Allender, J., Warner, K. D., & Rector, C. L. (2014). Community and public health nursing: Promoting the
public's health. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Health.
Louch, C. (2014). Does the HIV/AIDs pandemic affect national and household level food security? Positive
Health, (214), 1.
McKee, T. W. (2003). Why people volunteer. Retrieved from
http://files.asme.org/Events/LTC11/25029.pdf.
Medical nutritional therapy - Moveable Feast. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mfeast.org/servicesprograms/medical-nutritional-therapy/