FAEW: Weeks 3 & 4

Between the untimely death of my cousin and the winter storm, I haven't been at my internship or had the opportunity to blog about my experience. Last week I was in the office Monday and Wednesday and did not return until today, Friday Feb. 4 since we were closed on Wednesday (2/2) due to the storm and I had taken off Friday and Monday to be with family.

Lately I have been focused on direct mailings to our supporters in the community to get the word out about the donation option on Wisconsin state tax forms. I have also continued to work with Sue to promote the Pound for Pound Challenge. This is my first time sending out large mailings, pitch letters, fact sheets and posters. I quickly learned that although a machine may be able to stamp on postage and seal the envelopes for you - you can still run in to some errors. After having all of our mailings set with postage and sealed to go out to local fitness centers for the Pound for Pound Challenge, I came to work the following day to see a note on my desk that I had indeed put the wrong postage amount on the letters so I had to go back through and add an additional .41 cents to each mailing. I have now learned to not entirely rely on the machine and always double check with somebody else before completing hundreds of mailings with incorrect postage.

I have enjoyed my time here so far at Feeding America because all of the employees are very understanding, especially my supervisors. I appreciated every one's condolences when I told them the unfortunate news that I would be absent for two days due a death in my family. My supervisors understand that this is my last semester of college and that school comes first so if there is a day I can only come in for a few hours or not at all they completely understand and appreciate the days that I am able to come in and help out. Everyone here is warm and friendly and we often due things together as an office. Today we're having an office Packer party complete with pizza and snacks at one o'clock to pump everyone up for Sunday's game. This is the second Packer party we've had since I've started, the first one was the Friday before the NFC championship game. Although I am a Saints fan I can definitely appreciate the Packer pride as an excuse to take a break from work on a Friday afternoon; especially considering right after this I have to hop the bus downtown to serve at Rock Bottom until midnight or so. It may be a long day, but working with donors and promoting our programs makes it a very rewarding and humbling experience.