Springfield's First Food Day Celebration

This Saturday, the Springfield community came together to celebrate National Food Day for the first time.  It was $2 to get in and all the proceeds went to Ozarks Food Harvest. It was the perfect match for fundraising and fun!

I volunteered with the beau's pre-professional society and happened to be paired with some PRSSA members too. We had fun selling Smart chicken sandwiches and Quinoa salad from Momma Jean's. 

The Wilhoit Plaza was a great place for an outdoor event downtown! And the weather was beautiful, even in the middle of October.

I absolutely adored chatting with those girls. That is why I love volunteering. You never know who you will meet. 

Every moment is a moment for networking!

And Ozarks Food Harvest is such a good cause! I interned their the summer before last, and I just keep coming back because they are such a great community organization!

Do you have a place you always volunteer at?

-Beth

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Barbara Bush and Global Health Corps

This week at Missouri State University we are having our 7th annual Public Affairs Conference. I have been doing a lot this week with it, and I will share more later, but I am just so excited about tonight's presentation, I have to share NOW. 

In a nutshell, the Public Affairs Conference is a chance for Missouri State to put the Public Affairs Mission into action. The three components of the Public Affairs Mission are Community Engagement, Cultural Competence, and Ethical Leadership. Missouri State brings together speakers from all over the world to offer their expertise and spark conversation about Public Affairs. This year the theme is "Leading in a Global Society" and the chair of the conference is my advisor, Dr. Gloria Galanes. She has done such a fabulous job putting this conference together.

Well, back to tonight.

I attended the plenary address of Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush and founder and president of Global Health Corps.

Essentially, what Global Health Corps does is act as a hub for recently graduated students to connect their expertise to a non-profit working in global health. Bush said that the program seeks to show young people that no matter their background, they can be a part of the solution for global health problems.

Her story was inspiring. Now, I want to be a "fellow", and go to Africa for one year. 

The neatest thing about the program is they partner up a foreign "fellow" with a local "fellow. My favorite story she shared was of a young man who was born in Rwanda. His family fled the genocide, and he returned to Rwanda to go to a university. He worked with Global Health Corps and an American fellow to create the first state of the art hospital for that region. Now, he serves his home country under the minister of Health.

Seriously, everyone should check out her program!

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Wine, Fashion, and Beer

So this semester has been a successful one for Community Relations in PRSSA at Missouri State, if I do say so myself.

In one week, we volunteered at a Wine Tasting at MacDoodles for GYN Cancer Alliance, walked the runway for a Girls Night Out at Talbots for Ozarks Food Harvest, and put on Beerfest at the Shrine Mosque for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks.

Here are some pictures to enjoy: 

Wine Tasting for GYN Cancer Alliance

"Girls Night Out" for Ozarks Food Harvest

Lindsey, PR Manager at OFH, could not help but try on an outfit even though she was not planning on being a model.

All fashion show photos are from http://www.facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest

Sorry, no photos from Beerfest because I did not attend, but I hear great things from my fellow PR volunteers. And I look forward to what next semester holds for PRSSA!

P.S. Wednesday is World AIDS Day, and I plan on spending it at the Candlelight Vigil at Founder's Park in Springfield, MO sponsored by AIDS Project of the Ozarks. The event starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 6 p.m. Please consider attending to support the people in our community struggling with this terrible disease. If you cannot make that, mark December 6th on your calendar because Jeanne White-Ginder is speaking at MSU in honor of World AIDS DAY.

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Halloween Night at the Museum

Friday night, it was PRSSA's first volunteering event coordinated by me. Me, Lindsey, Travis, and Doug all helped out at The Discovery Center's Halloween Night at the Museum.

It was such a neat idea. Kids came dressed in costume and could go to different booths that were both scientific and about Halloween. The grand finale involved blowing up pumpkins. I didn't get to see it because I was cleaning, but it sounded like a lot of fun.

My favorite part of volunteering at events like this is meeting new people. I greeted with a sweet lady named Linda, who was a Drury student in a Organic Chemistry class. During candy lulls, we got to chit chat, and it is always fun to meet new people. :)

 It was so fun! I was a greeter at the door, so I had the best seat for all the cute costumes the kids wore. There were a lot of Spidermen, Woodys, and Buzz Lightyears. I also gave out candy at the end, so I think I was automatically the kids favorite volunteer.

My friend, Megan West, who works at The Discovery Center, was also there and a cat like me! It was good to see her at her work place.

Travis, my beau, was a sheriff. He was so sweet to help with my volunteer event!

Me, Doug, and Lindsey posed for a picture for at the end of the night. (Lindsey was a "cereal killer", which was pretty creative.) All in all, I would call this event a great success for The Discovery Center and PRSSA. Looking forward to more opportunities to volunteer this year!

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