With Love, Inc.

It’s Thanksgiving!

At this time of year in Wisconsin, its cold, the leaves have fallen, the ground is hardening and the last of the fall produce has been picked. This means that our Horticulture interns have the opportunity to leave the gardens and fields and work indoors.

Not all the winter internships for these students have to do with Horticulture, but these internships will continue to advance the job skills the students have been learning during their years at Shepherds College – personal hygiene, time management, professional behavior, job responsibilities, communications, customer service… We don’t give them a chance to get rusty during the off season!

This year, we’ve introduced a new internship site. Ray, Tess and Sean, our third-year Horticulture students, are working three days a week at Love, Inc., a 501c(3) non-profit organization in Burlington, WI with over 40 different programs dedicated to helping families and individuals live better, more productive lives. Each year, Love, Inc. provides over $500,000 in goods and services to those in need in the community.

Love Inc. goes the extra mile to help people celebrate Thanksgiving. In the last few weeks, our students have been putting together food boxes filled with all the yummy stuff people hope to find on their tables today – 10 pounds of potatoes, 5 pounds of fresh onions, stuffing, gravy, beans, corn, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, whipped cream and a gift certificate to purchase a turkey at the local Sentry’s. The students have the pleasure of meeting the recipients of the boxes and helping them carry the heavy loads to their cars.

They’ve also been working in the warehouse – cleaning, sorting and donating all the extra shoes, bags and belts to third world countries, like Haiti.

One of my favorite Love Inc. programs is the Adopt A Family program. Our students made the Christmas ornaments that local churches will hang on their trees. Individuals in the congregations will select ornaments with the names of needy families and anonymously buy gifts for them during the Christmas season.

Love Inc. also offers coats to children, teens and adults who are in need of warm, winter wear. This year, they gave away close to 1,000! Ray, Tess and Sean sorted through the coats that were left over to decide if they should be put in the resale shop or donated to another organization.

They’ve also had the experience of working in the resale shop, organizing clothing, hanging the items by color and making sure the hangers were all facing the correct way.

Miss Spence, their job transporter, has been impressed with the way the interns work with people so easily. She noticed how friendly and personable they were to everyone there. The students have consistently demonstrated kindness and compassion to employees, volunteers, clients and each other. 

The students have enjoyed this internship, and the people at Love Inc. have really enjoyed them. Patty, the volunteer coordinator said, “They’ve worked hard, and they’ve worked well together. They’ve been such a blessing to us!”

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
2 Corinthians 9:10-11

Happy Thanksgiving!

 


Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.