Being a 2023 Service Representative
In year 8, I was a service representative. This was an amazing opportunity to develop my leadership skills and to help others in the community.
The Mountain of Warmth Collection
One opportunity to help was through the Mountain of Warmth collection. Every year, All Saints’ collects of warm items to give to the Salvation Army, who then distribute the items to those dealing with homelessness during the cold winters. As service reps, we had to get the message out about the collection. I made a poster about the collection, and went through many edits to get it right. We then stuck some of these posters in the year 7/8 locker room, and gave them to tutor groups . Afterwards, it was edited to be put on the college’s social media and TV noticeboards. We also frequently visited tutor groups to remind them of the collection, and what to bring. We started preparations too late and ended up with less donations than earlier years, as we weren’t as organised as we could have been. At the end of the collection, I had the opportunity to give a small opening speech with Clarissa Siew about the mountain of warmth at the official handover ceremony with the Salvation army. This was an amazing chance to practice my public speaking skills.
The Mountain of Warmth collection was stressful at times, but in the end we were able to create a “mountain” of warm clothes to help those struggling with homelessness in the cold winters. This collection highlighted the importance of communication and organisation when planning and running events like this. It has also showed the importance of preparation and planning. I was able to improve on my communication and public speaking skills during this collection, and I am very grateful that I was able to work on these skills while making a positive difference in the community and keeping people warm over the cold, rainy winters.
Parish Food Collection
Over the course of the year, I was able to help out with the parish food collection as a service representative. This is when different houses take turns donating food items to be packed into hampers and distributed among those who need them. While this wasn’t as dramatic of a project as the Mountain of Warmth, it was still an amazing opportunity and let us help those in need. There was a roster between the service reps for both packing the hampers and for visiting tutor groups to tell them about what they can do.
Packing hampers involved sacrificing a Friday recess to go to the packing area (around the back of the E block) with the donations of the week. We then sorted these donations onto the shelves and counted the number of donations. After this we would find the items necessary for the hampers, and pack them into bags. Packing hampers improved my organisation of remembering when I was rostered on, while helping others in the community. Visiting tutor groups also helped build my organisation, and improved my public speaking in front of the tutor groups.
Book Week Parade
Another project I worked on during my time as a service rep was the book week parade. This was a project done in collaboration with the class representatives in year 8, which greatly improved my collaboration skills with the class reps. They went through a lot of planning to make the event possible. The event was in a year 7/8 assembly, where we could enter a parade to dress up as a book character for a gold coin donation. All the funds went to the Smith family student2student reading program. This was a great way to tie service into the parade while sticking to the book week theme. I gave a speech at the 7/8 assembly with Amelia Adams (Another service rep) about this program. This greatly increased my confidence with public speaking, as I was in front of all year 7 and 8s as an oompa loompa.
These are just some examples of the most notable things I was able to do as a service representative. I was also able to speak at chapel every few weeks, among other things. I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities that being a service representative presented. I was able to help many different people and make a positive difference, all while improving my capabilities and having fun.