Week 13

I cannot believe that I only have two more weeks of my internship left. I remember the first day I started. I thought that 300 hours would be so much to do. However, now I am down to my last hours, and I am wondering where the time went. I have met some really wonderful people through this internship, and I consider this the biggest blessing. I have also learned a lot from this experience.

I am so thankful that I have been able to experience working with a nonprofit organization. Working with a nonprofit organization is very different from working with any of my other jobs. In a nonprofit environment, it is based upon humility. The employees are serving others, which creates an environment of love and sincerity. In addition, the organization is formed from the volunteers for the program. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida cannot function without the wonderful volunteers. It has been so humbling to watch the volunteers interact with their littles and see the impact that is being made on the children. I truly believe in the mission of this organization and know that it is doing great things for Pensacola. I am so inspired by this organization, I now want to become a volunteer and become a big sister for a child in Pensacola.

Week 12

This week we had a staff meeting. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida is over Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay counties. All the employees came to the Pensacola office to have a meeting and discuss office matters. It was really interesting to have all the employees together in one place. Each employee had their own individual ideas about how to better the program. The individuality of each idea showed the unique talents and skills each member offers to the program to make it function.

In addition, having this meeting brought a sense of unity to the office. Many times I have done tasks for the other offices, but I have never met the workers before. This was the first time I have met some of the members from the other offices. It was really nice to be able to have all the employees in one place. After the meeting, we had a mini Thanksgiving lunch. We ate and laughed and had a great time. It was nice being able to feel the unity and bond with all the employees at one time.

Week 11

I was fortunate enough this week to help with an event called Kabuki. The event was located in Destin, Florida at Osaka Japanese Steakhouse. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters. The event did this by three ways. First, businesses paid a fee to attend the event. Second, while at the event a predetermined member became a chef for the night and earned tips at the table. Each table was competing to see who could earn the most tips. Third, a silent auction collected funds by individuals bidding on donated items. The event was held not only for funds but also for entertainment. Each table dressed up with different themes and awards were presented for different merits, such as the chef who struggled the most.

While at my internship, I was tasked with calling and emailing businesses to ask for donations for the silent auction. After the businesses donated the items, I was then tasked with writing descriptions for the items to be put on display at the silent auction. On the night of the event, I helped by waiting on tables and assisting with the silent auction. At the end of the silent auction, an intoxicated bidder became upset when she did not win her prize. I got to see how one handles a confrontation in that scerio. My advisor did a great job calming her down. Overall, Kabuki was a great learning experience and a lot of fun. 

 

Week 10

This week at my internship I did the final edits for the annual report. It is almost ready to be printed, and I cannot be more excited. In addition to working on the annual report, I updated the social media sites, decorated marketing materials, and filed. I worked with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel to organize and track different subjects for upcoming events. I also filed papers into corresponding binders and file folders.

I am learning at my internship the importance of staying organized. Without organization, things can become confusing and overlap. Although it takes time to keep things organized, it will actually save a lot of time in the long run. In addition, being organized helps others out when they are seeking certain information or materials.

Week 9

This week at my internship I carried on the same responsibilities from previous weeks. These responsibilities were updating social media sites, creating a twitter calendar, and filing. While at this internship, I have came to realize how important social media is to organizations. Twitter and Pintrest have been the two social media sites that Big Brothers Big Sisters has entrusted me to keep updated.

Social media is important to Big Brothers Big Sisters because it helps bring volunteers together and allows potential volunteers insight into the organizations. Social media helps bring volunteers together because they are all apart of the same group, which helps create feelings of unity. I will post information about different events coming up on twitter, so everyone knows when and where to be for volunteer events.

In addition, social media provides potential volunteers with much information to see what Big Brothers Big Sisters is all about. When community members follow Big Brother Big Sisters through social media sites, they learn about the mission of the organization. Hopefully after learning about the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters, they will volunteer and become a big sister or big brother. Also, I try to post things on social media that are uplifting and inspiration. The purpose behind this is to encourage those who see the posts. With how important social media is to this generation, it is pertinent that I keep up with the social media sites in such a way that more people will want to follow.

Week 8

This week I learned a little about logistics. Big Brothers Big Sisters is having an annual event in January called Corks and Canvases. This event is a gala that will also have a silent auction. Over the past few weeks I have been in charge of filing for this event. Any time a company has donated for the event, I must record their donation and put it in the corresponding slot in the event binder. I also have recorded the donors on a spreadsheet to keep up with what benefits they will receive at the gala. In addition, I have helped with inventory for this event by going to the storage unit and seeing what items were left over from last year.

Last Tuesday I was provided the opportunity to attend a logistics meeting for Corks and Canvases. While at the meeting, I met some of board members for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I listened to them as they discussed details for the gala. Some of the details included decoration, lighting, and parking. However, most of the meeting was focused on getting donations for the silent auction.

Currently, I am taking a class called Leadership Communication at the University of West Florida. The majority of the class curriculum is composed of the class participating in a philanthropic project and raising money for a nonprofit organization. As a class, we are raising funds by going to companies and asking for monetary donations or items for an online silent auction. During the logistics meeting at Big Brothers Big Sisters, I found myself relating to what the board members were doing by asking for items for their silent auction at the gala. This relation was neat to see on a larger scale with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Week 7

I finished the annual report this week! Although it is under review and some minor edits need to be done after it gets proofread, it is finished. I cannot explain how accomplished I felt after I was able to pass the finished project onto my supervisor. This week I mainly worked on the same tasks as the previous weeks. A majority of my time was spent contacting businesses about donating door prizes for the Fenner Ride. In addition, I updated the social media and worked on a marketing table.

Working on the marketing table was a new task for me. The Big Brothers Big Sisters in another city needed help setting up a marketing table for special events, such as a volunteer fair. The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pensacola set up a mock marketing table to be an example for the other organization. We went to different stores looking for block letters for the table and finally found some. After finding the letters, we painted them and allowed them to dry as we set up the table. We had to ensure that the table had the right handouts and materials on it.

After the block letters were put on, we organized the table to look professional. We also added balloons to grab observers' attention as they walked by. In addition, we stayed with the BBBS color scheme of purple and white. Setting up this table taught me how to use organization and professionalism to attract the public to our table. We want our table to stand out when compared to those around it and this can be achieved by appearing clean, inviting, and organized.