- How was your first day at your service sit?
- What did you think of the speaker? Would you invest in the Bonner Program?
- You have gone into Trenton 2 times now, how is it different from your community?
Kathleen Marano - ASA
The speaker last night was very inspiring. I really enjoyed listening to Wayne Meisel, the founder of the Bonner program and the president for 20 years, tell us about what it means to be a Bonner and how effective the program can be. I would definitely invest in Bonner because being a Bonner means that one takes everything so far beyond just volunteering. A Bonner is dedicated to a cause and will put so much hard work into it. Merely giving money directly to a source that needs it will not accomplish everything that giving it to a Bonner would. Bonners will work their hardest to assist and inspire people and will work on making a lasting impact, rather than just helping out for a day or a week. There is a level of dedication that is present in the Bonner program that would not be achieved through any other investment.
My experience with Trenton so far is that it has received a reputation that it does not deserve. I had always heard that it was an unsafe place that I should be very cautious in, but I have not seen anything so far that would support that idea. It is very different from my community of Nutley, which is mainly white and middle class. Trenton seems to have more minorities and has more lower class families. While Trenton seemed to be fairly safe while I was there, I would say that Nutley gives off a more welcoming and crime-free feeling. It is also known for being a very family-oriented and safe community.
Raymond Turco - TASK
At the close of Day 1, the founder and president of the Bonner Foundation, Wayne Meisel, came to speak to us and inquired as to our impressions of the preceding few hours. A vibrant and upbeat man, Wayne divided the group into a debate in order to have us discuss whether money would better serve individual institutions (like the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) or proactive volunteer groups (like the Bonner Foundation). I tend to prefer the idea of streamlining the money directly to the source, yet I appreciate the value of investing in individuals who can spread aid by word of mouth and thus build a communal union of committed people.
My impression of Trenton has changed from my previously preconceived notions. No longer do I see it as destitute or as lacking in value. In fact, it has been brought to my attention that there exist areas that bear some semblance to middle-class areas in other cities. And as for value, I find that I am becoming the party receiving enlightenment just as I am the party giving it out. There is as much to be learned, analyzed, and treasured from the urban poor in the same way that there are things to be mournful of. Community and humility are easily observed in the environment of the soup kitchen, alongside all the degradation and misery.
Emma Singer - Habitat
After being placed on the Habitat for Humanity team, I was really excited to start working on the mural. I felt it would be cool to leave a permanent mark on Trenton that would help beautify the community (that sounds a tad cheesy). After dropping Megan M. and Jessica off at the day camp we proceeded to the re-store where we would be painting the mural. The artist, Quincy was there to show us what to do and help (at least me) with the lack of artistic talent. The mural is broken into three parts and expresses hope when put all together. The first part, also the one we worked on, was the section that showed all the bad things in Trenton, a grave, storms, guns, death, prisoners, etc. The second part shows people pulling others out of this "valley of death" and the third part depicts hope for the future. While we were painting, in mainly dark grays and browns, two kids came up to our site after biking past it a few times. The kids, whose names turned out to be Promise and Mike, asked to help paint, and surprisingly Quincy let them. I was on the scaffolding so I didn't really get to know them, but they bonded with Emily, even getting her drinks and snacks! After we had finished painting for the day, we stood in front of the mural in the double XL shirts Shaun had gotten for us (that in all truthfulness could have been worn as a dress :) and stared up at what we had accomplished. Though I hadn't worked on specific things, I still felt a sense of accomplishment. It was nice to be able to paint something that people would like, citizens walking by kept yelling out to Quincy that they appreciated what he was doing. It was a fun, first, habitat experience that I'm excited to repeat on Tuesday (but wow its only Tuesday!?)!
After frantically working on out essay that same day, Wayne Meisel, founder and president of the Bonner program for 20 years, came to give us a speech. It was very strong and entertaining, it seems like Mr. Meisel really believes that everyone can make a difference in the world, which I guess I agree with as well. Mr. Meisel also broke us into groups and had us debate whether a million dollars should go to a program like the Bonner department or directly to the organizations of a town such as Trenton (i.e. the soup kitchen, the re-store, etc.). I was on the side of giving the money to the town and though we tried our hardest, it wasn't exactly the fairest fight :). We argued that the town would know better what to do with the money, and also, giving money to the town would help them gain a sense of independence. If the money went to the Bonner program, they would have the say over where the money would go instead of the community. After a valiant fight on both sides, most of the Bonner interns explained why they supported giving the money to the Bonner program. It kind of makes sense why no one sided with giving money to the town since everyone here is a Bonner :). Overall, the speech and the debate were both pretty thought provoking. It was definitely hard after that to start working on my 2-3 page essay!
Lea Fuscaldo - El Centro
El Centro was really cool. I was able to speak Spanish with a native speaker and he said I spoke it well. The behavior of the kids was astounding, they were really good kids. They were all super adorable and sweet. They really enjoyed what we were doing and one kid said it was the best camp he'd been to. It was good knowing we could do something special for the kids. Instead of being all cooped up they were actually able to go out and see the park. That also allowed me to actually see what Trenton is like. My preconceived notions weren't completely wrong, but they were right as well. It was interesting to see what our capital city was actually like.
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