An FGCU Student's Personal Experience

With Alex's permission we have shared an opinion piece he wrote for the student newspaper at Florida Gulf Coast University. The article can be found at Eagle News. Thank you Alex for your thoughts & partnership! 

Looking back on this past semester, one of the most memorable moments has been my service learning project with the Fort Myers soup kitchen CCMI (Community Cooperative Ministries Incorporated). This journey began during my first week of classes which can often set the feeling of what the entire semester will feel like.

In my weekly Colloquium class, part of our requirements (along with keeping a journal, writing four papers and attending field trips) included performing 10 hours of service learning with a non-profit organization.

When my professor said that we could select a soup kitchen as our non-profit, my fears about the class ended because of a belief I kept in the back of my mind from Day 1: If I could find a great non-profit to work with a minimum of 10 hours, the entire class would work itself out.

I was introduced to this organization by their volunteer liaison who is a dear friend of mine and someone I consider a role model: Lisa Cronin. A few days before Christmas I went to visit her at CCMI to give her a present and a card and while I was there I met a mother of four who had been robbed and was still frightened by the incident. She only wanted Christmas for her children.

Lisa and I put together two bags of toys to give to this woman's children and I knew from that moment that I helped make a difference in someone's life and I knew I could do more with this organization if given the opportunity to do so and thankfully it came to me sooner than I thought.

Three hours every Friday from 9 a.m. to noon I volunteered at CCMI headquarters in Fort Myers where my duties ranged from folding and distributing clothes to preparing hygiene bags which contained soap, shampoo, toothpaste and a toothbrush for those who come early in the morning. I am also happy to report the food is absolutely delicious after enjoying a meal with the folks on my first day of volunteering.

When you are able to make a difference in a person's life in a small way as I have done these past four months, you find that a lot of these people they can rise up confidently and go on to write a job resume, take a shower, go to a job interview and eventually become employed again. From that you find a piece of charity in your heart that many people don't have, but I know every single person on earth desperately needs one.

I saw some people barely hanging on to life like there was a clock ticking in their heart that would collapse at any second. I can say after watching a man die before my eyes — to see someone that close to death right in front of you — is terrifying.

I wonder how many of these people were given the short end of the stick from Day 1 in life and why the word poverty is not used as much in discussion of our moral landscape as it was used in the 1930s with FDR's New Deal or in the 1960s with LBJ's War On Poverty.

I believe that if there is life after this one, we will be judged on that other side by how we treated the poor and afflicted on this earth. At times I think we ignore this issue due to our own mind having 50 million thoughts running at one time and perhaps our own greed we don't want to admit to.

I also have met so many people with a distorted view on people living in poverty — they are lazy, unmotivated and that society should just turn their backs on them which makes me sad because you wonder how anyone can think this way.

The work that CCMI has been doing since 1984 has been a blessing for this community and we need more organizations like this taking a stand against poverty, homelessness, hunger and helping people re-enter the job market.

We can end all of those dangerous forces as a nation and as a world in my generation but it will ultimately be up to all of us to decide what kind of society we want to have: Are we going to let people drown or are we going to build the bridge so we don't leave people behind?

8th Grade Students Respond to Community Need

St. Francis Xavier School is an inter-parochial Catholic elementary school located in Fort Myers serving Pre-K -Grade 8 children of the Lee County Catholic community. Recently St. Francis Xavier sent over their fabulous 8th grade students to serve clients over a two day period at our Everyday Cafe. The student's service has become an annual event and a wonderful partnership. Thank you to the staff and students at St. Francis Xavier for making it happen!

Outstanding Volunteer News!

Meals on Wheels Volunteer Honored

Meals On Wheels volunteer Jon Ellis was honored at the Good Wheels Luncheon on March 19th for outstanding service as a volunteer. Jon was nominated by Home Delivered Meals Team Leader, Kelly DeBoy and the luncheon was attended by the entire Meals on Wheels staff to show support for his valuable work. Deboy nominated Jon and states, "He started volunteering this past fall, and he is amazing. He would do 2 routes in a day when needed, helped the Driver Coordinator make the routes better, found us a new drop off location site, and came up with the idea to have a driver/staff meeting a few times a year to discuss the program and answer questions. He is a treasure!" CCMI Board Chairman, Steve Shimp, is pictured with John Ellis receiving his award.

Groceries on Wheels is Growing

Volunteers have made our new service, Groceries on Wheels (GOW), a success. Groceries on Wheels provides the most needy Meals On Wheels seniors with a bag of groceries to supplement nutrition and so they have food on their shelves to help get them through the month. Staff and volunteers discovered many of our seniors were depending solely on the Meals On Wheels delivered meal for their food each day and GOW was implemented to address this problem. The picture shows our wonderful volunteers packing up groceries. We served 40 Meals On Wheels seniors with a bag of groceries in March up 10 people since we first started the service in December. Thanks to our volunteers, community donations, & a recent grant from Meals On Wheels Association of America, GOW is helping to end senior hunger in Lee County!

Rasmussen College School of Nursing Partners with CCMI

We are honored to have had nursing students and faculty from Rasmussen College recently volunteer at our Everyday Cafe! In addition, we are now looking forward to an ongoing relationship with the students and are discussing opportunities for them to assist on a more regular basis with not only our emergency food programs but also becoming more familiar with our social services program as well. Thank you to Rasmussen College School of Nursing for taking the time to make an impact on your community and connect with those in need. We are looking forward to a great partnership in the future!

Mayor Henderson helps out Mayor For Meals

 Mayor Randy Henderson participated in CCMI's Meals on Wheels Mayors for Meals event to show his support for our community's homebound and hungry seniors. Meals were packed beginning at 7:30 a.m. at our Everyday Café in Fort Myers. Mayor Henderson and other Meals On Wheels drivers, including NBC-2 Anchor Len Jennings, then delivered meals to our Meals on Wheels participants. This event was part of a month long initiative called March for Meals  March For Meals is a national campaign during the month of March, initiated by the Meals On Wheels Association of America, which seeks to raise awareness of senior hunger and to encourage action on the part of the local community.

Thank you Mayor Henderson, Len Jennings, and all our volunteers who support this community's seniors by providing food, connection, and a helping hand!

 CCMI Montessori School Recognized in Nationwide Publication

CCMI's early childhood education program the Community Montessori School, was mentioned in an article, Montessorians Keeping Eyes on the Prize, written for a nationwide publication, Public School Montessorian. The author of the article is George S. Morrison, Ed.D., Professor, Early Childhood Education at the University of North Texas and author of Early Childhood Education Today 12th ed. and Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, 6th ed. The article discusses developing innovative programs and new initiatives to address closing student achievement gaps and aligning those programs in a way that prepares students for public school. These achievement gaps are more severe in Black and Latino students and the the gaps among students of different income levels is equally severe.

Our Community Montessori School provides quality and affordable education to families at 150% below the poverty level and believes through effective education the poverty gap can be erased. Our students enter Kindergarten at an accelerated level after being exposed to a wide range of learning experiences through Montessori education. Montessori Directress Cindy Venezia states the following as quoted from the article, "In order for the children, in this area, to succeed they are going to need what their peers in the suburbs are being exposed to - an environment full of grace and courtesy, enrichment programs, and academics."

Congratulations to our Montessori Students, Teachers, and Directress for their valiant commitment to learning!

Fort Myers High School Donates 4000lbs of Food!

The students at Fort Myers High School are another true example of the thoughtful, caring youth in our southwest Florida community. We appreciate your effort and generosity! This action has a direct impact on improving the quality of life for hungry families by reducing food insecurity. At CCMI, food is the gateway to connecting those in need to many other services that will address the root causes of hunger. Together we are reaching out and helping others through food drives and volunteer assistance that results in positive change for everyone. Thank you Fort Myers High!

North Fort Myers Football Team Helps Out the Hungry 

Thank you to the Head Coach of the North Fort Myers High School Football Team, Barry Goettemoeller, and the Red Knights football players who wanted to get involved with helping our community by volunteering at CCMI! On a day off from school the team split up into two groups and worked at both of our Everyday Cafe locations in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. The day was fabulous as they prepared foods, served our customers, cleaned up and prepared foods for the following day. All of us at CCMI and each of the customers you served are grateful for your hard work and generosity.

We appreciate you and Go Big Red!!

 Community Partners Help With Food Drive

 We want to thank all the wonderful individuals at Summit Church who organized a recent food drive that resulted in an enormous amount of food that will be distributed to those in need during the upcoming months. We are entering a very busy time for our Everyday Market (formerly the Food Pantry) and are grateful for community partners like the members of Summit Church who provided a helping hand to those most in need. Thank you for a great experience!!!

Montessori Directress Honored

CCMI is proud to announce that our Community Montessori School's Directress has been honored as one of 40 under 40 in southwest Florida for her professional accomplishments!

Cindy Venezia took over operations of the CCMI preschool in 2006 and began transforming the existing program into a quality Montessori early education program. The Community Montessori School is located in a socioeconomically challenged area of the city of Fort Myers and serves approximately 40 children ages 3-5. Her next goal for the program is to expand the school in order to include infants through kindergarten-age students.

Cindy has over 15 years of experience working in Montessori education and is a member of the International Montessori Council. She brings not only experience and expertise but a passion for helping our students succeed.

Read more in the current issue of Gulfshore Business written by Cayla Stanley.

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