First KCSP Service Experiences

So far, I have hardly completed any service at my agency, the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy.  They are currently in the process of moving to a new location which has caused lots of stress and anxiety within the organization and not much focus has been put on promoting smoke-free policy, at least for the time being.  For now, the main focus of KCSP is scanning all their files and moving them to digital copies.  These files mainly include important documents, samples of media used to promote smoke-free policy, etc.  They help to mark their progress throughout the years and prove how successful KCSP has been throughout Kentucky.

Just one of the many newspaper articles proving KCSP’s effectiveness in its community over the years.

Because of this shift in focus, my first service experience was regretfully uneventful.  I spent the entirety of three hours on a Tuesday morning coping stacks on stacks of documents.  Inevitably, almost every stack I would put in the machine to scan would get jammed somewhere along the line and I would have to figure out some way to get the paper out.  Whether there were still staples in the packets or a small article couldn’t make it through all the way or a paper just went through the wrong way, there were issues constantly.  This made a fairly simple process rather frustrating, especially since I felt like my job was somewhat meaningless.  However, after the gratitude I received when leaving I am certain that I was of service to people who genuinely needed my help.  Going forward I know that even the smallest of help can have a large impact.  Once KCSP is moved to their new location, I am certain I will have more opportunities to serve the agency and the community in the way I had initially expected.

An example of the types of social media campaigns my group members and I will help to produce to promote the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy.

In the upcoming month, I am expecting to have many more service opportunities than were presented in October.  My group’s service coordinator has already informed us about some tabling events we will have the opportunity to be a part of throughout November.  Since November is National COPD Awareness month my group members and I will be at tables around campus passing out information about anti-smoking policies and the dangers of smoking.  Additionally, we will be creating social media campaigns to promote smoke-free policy all over Kentucky.  Between the two of these opportunities, I believe November will prove to be an extremely busy month and I will feel much more satisfaction about the work I did with my service agency.