Community Service Counts at PCSP

Community service is a great way to get involved with the community. By getting involved you are reminded of your civil responsibility to the community you serve by uniting people from different backgrounds for a single cause. By volunteering I am providing a way for the community to save valuable resources and allowing me to build camaraderie and teamwork with those I serve with.

This year I branched out in my community service credit by volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Greenville, South Carolina. This was one of the service opportunities that were made available to me through my membership with the Student Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (SSHP). Last year I earned my non-pharmacy related community service hours in my home town in Kentucky over thanksgiving break. This year I wanted to do something associated with the school to interact more with my fellow students and the community that I have become a part of while getting my professional degree.

At the RMH I was able to work with classmates and students from other years.  We worked in the private rooms that RMH provides for families to stay in while their child receives treatments. We removed all of the old closet dividers and replace them with a new simpler curtain. The employees at the RMH were so appreciative of what we were doing for them and we were able to interact with some of the families who were staying at the house. It is volunteering within your community that I feel is essential for a pharmacist to build a relationship with their patients, whom you may be servicing or serving with. Volunteering as a professional allows the community to interact with you outside of the workplace and to see you caring for the public.

I encourage you to volunteer in your communities, so that you may experience the joys of making a difference. While volunteering I have learned that I enjoy giving back to the community, others enjoy working with other responsible members of the community to make a difference and that society in general flourishes when able bodied members of that society work together for the betterment of the community as a whole.