Harell Torres

The 20th Anniversary Fundraiser for Lotus House is simply a donation fundraiser for sheltering 1,550+ women's and children who are currently homeless & are in need of help financially. The Lotus House Fundraiser was provided by The Lotus Shelter Gala at the Margulies Collection at the WAREhOUSE in Miami, Florida. The building was decorative with beautiful, priceless artwork pieces that were reserved for special guest and clientele. I was very fortunate to participate in this special event not only to greet and see the magnificent artwork but to volunteer assistance for the guest and the crew members.

What Did I Do In This Event

As I drove to the building, being greeting with valet parking people to help park my car; i enter the Margulies Collection Warehouse. Inside, there was an abundant of people who were family and friends having graceful conversations before the event would start at 7:00pm. Now originally I was schedule at 7-9pm in the evening however since i had experience the traffic here in Miami was great in the weekends I decided to arrive in the warehouse one hour earlier so that i would make myself acquaintance with the crew members. Inside I met with Victoria and Elizabeth, Victoria was the first person that i met inside the warehouse who was kind enough to direct me to the location that need to be volunteering. Elizabeth later show up and greeted with me on behave of my service. She was instructing on my position currently and what I need to preform and things that I'm not suppose to do before and during the speech and commemoration of the event. In between the art gallery and the booth where food and drinks were served, my only job was to make sure that the guest would not bring in food or drinks beyond the booth area towards the front of the gallery. It was very strict since many of the artwork pieces were million dollar pieces being display out in the open. I could tell that my job was consider easy since there was no mentioning of handling food and beverages for our guest nor process transactions for merchandise on my part. I also met with Nunzio Auricchio, the Collection Manager at the Margulies Collection. He was the person who helped me with anything that I need like water, the food of the event and the paperwork process of the volunteer service learning.

What Did I Learn At The Event

Here is where the subject gets a little confusing, the whole event of the fundraiser is that these homeless families, in particularly mother's and children of all age's are not specified in this event. I don't know if this is a privacy information reason but my overall question to this is who are this families? Where are they from? How many are affect by the global economy at scale? Is Inflation the responsible culprit of these groups who were affect? In the speech, there were many guest who came up to the podium and address the issue to everyone sitting in the hall. Many of these mother's and children are citizens of the United States of America, a First World Country that promotes wealth & prosperity. The fundraiser was a national funding fr the homeless families who were affect by the job loss, marriage divorce, accidents from work or in public, debt, and so much more. I began to understand why and how the process of forming a fundraiser is necessary in the first place to assist in the first place. It is ethical for use citizen of the United States of America to protect and serve the need and provide opportunities for every young and senior workers with benefits and aid in times of crisis. The speech lasted for two hours, once it finished the food court was awarded with fancy and delicious entree's and drinks for the rest of the guest. My job was wrap up to a closing.

My Overall Thoughts

My overall thoughts on this event was very pleasant and convenient. I would say that my overall opinion on the event as better than originally i have anticipated. The transparency could use some work for the all that i can think of in terms of the speech and commemoration.

It was cloudy day in the Miami Dade Padron Campus & on my way to the Zen Garden, I notice that the area of the garden was very small. To my knowledge I was expecting a greenhouse with rows of flower bed and stone walkways to stroll in. Indeed the campus was offering the little amount of space they had to renovate the side of the parking lot. The garden was made in memorial of David McGuirk, a professor in English, Literature & Sociology leader in the Earth Ethics Institute Global Sustainability.

What Did I Do In This Impact

During my wait with six other members with one being one of my classmate in Organizational Management, professor Yadira Capaz arrived to start the zen garden event. During her greeting she asked if anyone was new and i had to introduce myself to her during our introduction. The Garden was beautiful but i realize that the gravel pavement was in need of touch up. The plants and other wildlife were seen in the pictures provided in the review. Shortly after we had another professor coming in to help with the gravel supply in a truck. As we form a team, we made a plan to remove any sensitive plant and rocks that were going to be affected by the gravel patch. I made my assistance to volunteer to shovel the gravel from a wheel barrel provided by the professor and with the help of three other gentlemen. The work was tough but it was expected when your doing a renovating touch up of a garden. Once we finished we had to make the walkway surfaces flat with tool's like an iron rake to level the ground even.

What Did I Learn In This Impact

What I learn so far is maintaining a clean environment, sustainability. What you do as a worker who creates a new product or service must be economically green and efficient. Produce less Carbon Footprint in your business is a top priority while generating profits to benefit your business and your shareholder's. In this Zen Garden, I learned that keeping the planet safe by cleaning and protecting the wildlife not only helps the animals but also the ecosystem. As we finished, professor Yadira gave the group a rock for us to decorate and leave a reminder of our time in this peaceful garden that we volunteer and help it grow further in the future to come. Our last task was to water the plants and most importantly soak the gravel in water to clean of any dust that was carried in the rock to be sip down into the soil, providing nutrients to the ground below for micro-organisms and plant species to flourish.

Verdict

This event was better than i expected overall in my personal opinion. Sure it could be improve by having more canopy and gazebo's to protect ourselves in the rain. I wish there would be more variety of plants and flowers to grow in there natural habitat. In the end, the experience was worth the trip in Miami. Another great event in the Padron Campus.