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Running head: PROJECT OPEN HAND

Project Open Hand

Reflection Paper

Kassia Webb
International College of the Cayman Islands
BE-422: Seminar on Technology and Society
Instructor: Dr. David Marshall

PROJECT OPEN HAND

On Saturday, November 12th, 2016, we went to participate in a community

service activity at Project Open Hand, which was a part of the Technology and Society
course requirement. We were welcomed by Elliot Steinbach, who is the Volunteer
Coordinator. He advised us on the rules of the organization and gave us instructions on
how to partake in the food preparation and shopping.
I found that Elliot's lesson was interesting as he gave excessive details about the
Project Open Hand organization. I learned that Project Open Hand is a non-profit
organization that was founded by Ruth Brinker in 1985. She was a retiree of Meals on
Wheels. They provide meals to people that are suffering from chronic diseases such as
Aids, Diabetes or Cancer. They serve food with love, in order to support their clients who
are ill and undergoing medical treatment as well as other communities is in need. All
services to their clients are free. In total, Project Open Hand has about 8,000 clients. They
provide meals and groceries, in addition to providing nutritional advising from trained
Nutritionist on site. Every day they serve 2,500 meals and give out on an average of 200
bags of groceries. In 2015, they served over one billion meals. Since their inception in
1985, three months ago, they have served their seventeenth million meals. In order to
have accomplished serving meals, Project Open Hand relied on volunteers. They received
about 125 volunteers every day and they need that amount of volunteers in order to meet
those 2,500 meals per day. Volunteers can work in the kitchen, shop for clients, deliver
meals, and serve meals, work in the warehouse and much more. They receive their
funding as follows; 60% is private, 30% from government and 10% are from partners. All
funding which are received goes back to the clients. Overall, the most interesting part was

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actually being able to volunteer by sorting and packing food, and shopping for the
customers of the program.
Project Open Hand has clients that are extremely ill and cannot come to the
facility to collect their food so they deliver food to them 365 days per year. They even
encourage clients to come to the facility in person. Elliot mentioned that 90% of their
clients are living in poverty. Their program includes three different meals such as frozen
meals, hot meals, and groceries so that clients could shop for their own bags of groceries.
The reasons they offer these kinds of meals are because a lot of time the clients are too
sick and cannot cook for themselves.
What I have learned is related to the topic Technology and Society because this
community service activity included volunteers from different societies who donated
their time to serving and preparing meals for thousands of ill patients who are battling
serious illnesses.
Furthermore, I was more than delighted had been given the opportunity to
dedicate my time to this community activity. I think that Cayman is lacking this kind of
institution and it would be worthwhile and valuable for the community to establish one.
It is important to be a good citizen and give back to the community. Even though I
personally do not volunteer in my community due to my busy schedule, I am aware of the
importance and I hope that I will someday become more actively involved in community
services.
I did a research on diverse communities and discovered an article titled, Network
helps diverse communities improve grade-level reading, by Deborah L. Cohen. The
Robert L. Bailey, IV Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island has developed a

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voluntary program that is joint with YMCA, for children during the summer to help improve
educational performances (Cohen, 2013). Cohen (2013) wrote, The program provides breakfast
and lunch, reading and math intervention, enrichment activities, and educational field trips (para
2). Following this quote, it shows that people from different societies also get involved in
building communities and organizations for the benefit of others as they think that helping others
is an important part of life.

PROJECT OPEN HAND

References

Cohen, D. L. (2013). Network helps diverse communities improve grade-level reading. National
Civic Review, 102(2), 20+.
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