Green your Halloween!

The article, "Turn Halloween from orange to green" from Philly.com illustrates a couple of ways we can control the disposable results of today's holiday. First, try to cut down on the number of candy wrappers you give out to visiting trick-or-treaters. At your local shop, look for options that minimize packaging waste or consider giving out alternatives, such as produce. Sure, kids would prefer the sweet stuff but they will appreciate your efforts in the long-run!

Secondly, skip the elaborate store-bought costumes this year. Look to make your own or to swap with a friend! The third suggestion is to cut down on the number of decorations you use to adorn your home. Look for reusable items and skip the energy-consuming fog machine and strobe lights.

Applying these easy tips will ensure a guilt-free, fun and inexpensive Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

Volunteering at MANNA

I was one of the volunteers at MANNA a couple of weeks back and this post is about my experience there. MANNA prepares and delivers free, nutritional meals to people who have life-threatening diseases through its dedicated staff and thousands of volunteers. We were a group of 8 Fox School of Business students. Prudence, a first year MBA student joined the 2nd year class, which was represented by Bill, Rich, Mike Hammer, William, Renee, Josh, and me. We reached MANNA at around 1 PM and were received by a MANNA worker, who explained to us what MANNA does and how important its volunteers are to its operations. She also explained to us other fund-raising events that MANNA organizes.

We were told that we would be making beef sandwiches, which were to be given to people with HIV and other life-threatening illnesses . We went to the kitchen, washed our hands and then put on the disposable plastic gloves and hat and started making the sandwiches. We were told to stuff the beef in
 between the breads and then wrap it in a foil and place it in a rack. Our quota for the day was supposed to be around 750 sandwiches. Renee, Bill, and William were stuffing the bread with beef, Josh, Rich, and Prudence put them into the tin foils, Hammer and I stuck the labels on each of them. We were packing the food so fast that often we found ourselves waiting for more labels and racks. We were also having good fun chatting while doing the work.

We completed packing nearly a thousand sandwiches that day. Just knowing the fact that we were volunteering for a great cause made it a memorable day. Thanks to Josh for organizing this event, and all the other volunteers who made it a day to remember. The event reinforced the fact that time is the most generous gift that you can give your fellow human being as it enriches those who receive it, without making poorer those who give. If you would like to learn more about volunteering at MANNA
please visit www.mannapa.org