As proud as I am of the successes of this campaign, I can't help feeling a little disappointed for a couple of reasons. First, we only raised 48% of our goal. When I think about the thousands of kids who won't be served by us next year, it stings a little. I feel like I could have and should have done better.
Second, I didn't always have the support of the Butler County School Supply Coalition. Sure, they had kind words to say when I sent them e-mail updates, but they didn't make this campaign a priority. I asked them to complete tasks and instead they gave excuses. We were supposed to have our final meeting yesterday to discuss the project's end, and all but one member canceled at the last minute. Despite scheduling this meeting over a month ago, the members did not make time for it, and we had to reschedule. Again.
In this way, the work of an AmeriCorps*VISTA member can seem pretty thankless. Overall, though, my year in AmeriCorps has been a tremendous experience, and I imagine I'll start to get pretty nostalgic over the next week. That is, if I haven't already! Last week Alex and I attended a Year in Review reception for our VISTA friend Jessica Reading at Miami University Hamilton campus. She discussed her goals and accomplishments of the year, as well as some of the disappointments, and it made me realize once again the solidarity of us VISTAs. It isn't a walk in the park to be a VISTA. But I guess that's not why we signed up for this gig.
Getting things done for America: Kaitlyn, Alex, and Jessica
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