Lucia Londoño is 20 years old, an illustrator, and most importantly, she is the SERVE Special Events and ASB coordinator. She is the perfect example of something going above and beyond to help her local and global community. It was inspiring to learn how much work and love she puts into all of her volunteer work!
HC: Can you give me a quick overview of your role as SERVE and ASB coordinator.
LL: Well it’s a leadership position in Student Involvement. So, basically what we do is help or service the community, and we all have different roles. My position especially involves any type of event that is going on around the Savannah community that needs volunteer help. Unlike the Pet Project coordinator that deals with animals every weekend, my role is more like if there’s a marathon, festival, or hospice that need people, I go. The events vary all the time, and it doesn’t matter what it is. If they need help, I will help.
In ASB, which I’m doing right now for the first time, we work with a department from SCAD. For example, last year we worked with the Illustration department, and took students to volunteer at a hospice. So ASB is a healthy but fun trip offered by SCAD to the students so they can relax and unwind from all the stress of exams, homework, etc., while at the same time volunteering.
HC: When and why did you decide to become involved in SERVE?
LL: Well, during my freshmen year, they opened up the leadership positions, and I didn’t think, at first, that I’d get the job because I was a freshmen and everyone said it was usually for sophomores and up. But I said, well why not? So I applied for SERVE. I’ve always liked doing community service. When I was in high school, I was always working with Operation Smile, and I was also doing other community service in my hometown, like in the shelters. So I applied for what I thought I would like. I actually applied for Kids Cafe first, but they ended up assigning me to Special Events and ASB. I didn’t find that out until I got the email.
HC: So you mentioned this before, but prior to SCAD, did you do any other volunteer work? If so , what were you involved with? You mentioned shelters in your hometown and Operation Smile?
LL: Yeah, Operation Smile is a big organization here in the US, but they also go to Latin America, because of the problem with children being born with cleft lips. They asked for help from my school, because of we spoke English. Almost all the classes were taught in English. They needed translators for the doctors, help taking care of the children, and students who were interested in pursuing medicine were allowed to go into the surgeries and observe.
HC: How are you able to manage your time between school and volunteering?
LL: I think I’m doing much better with that now than when I started because it’s a process. You start early learning time management and prioritizing . I used to be all the time with my friends, but now I limit that time. But it’s not so bad, because it’s nice seeing them after a while. You know that you have to do this, and it feels refreshing to complete everything that you want to, like your goals. I always do a list at night of the things that I have to do, and then, I prioritize. Sometimes you don’t get to do all of them, but as long as you do the most important ones, its good.
And I feel, also, that I manage my time better than when I wasn’t working. Before I’d be like “Oh, I have the whole afternoon,” and then the afternoon was gone. I was struggling to finish my homework last minute. But now with this position, I prioritize everything, and I know how much time needs to go into everything.
HC: What organization would like to work with for future events?
LL: Well, as an illustrator, I would like to do some advertising that involves some global issues. I only know a few organizations, like the websites Green Peace and Do Something. Those are the ones I know right now. I haven’t researched that much. But those are the ones that I follow on Facebook and know more about.
HC: What has been your favorite Special Event, either one from when you were just a volunteer or when you began coordinating?
LL: The one I really enjoyed was painting the umbrellas for The National Alliance of Mental Illness.
Because it is a little rare, not that it’s a bad thing, to have all the students cooperating with each other and having so much fun between themselves. Because sometimes there is always someone who is shy, but this time everyone was cooperating, and they were applying there creativity in the whole process. So it was fun!
HC: What has been the most rewarding experience/moment you’ve had so far?
LL: Once, we were painting the fence of a child daycare facility. It was just amazing to see how moving it was for the lady that was in charge of the daycare. She was so grateful, and that gave me a really good feeling. You think you are just painting a fence, but you’re really making a big difference, because that is their working space. And if the children are happier playing there then that makes the lady even happier.
Its nice to see how much it affects that person you are helping. And also I feel like I learn a lot about the volunteers. Because sometimes when I’m the coordinator, I forget how to volunteer. Cause with the planning everything, you forget what you’re doing. When you hear what the volunteers are saying, you realize how much it affects them. For example, the other day, one of my volunteers told me she was very happy that day because, at first, she wasn’t going to attend the event, but she did in the end. She said it was nice not to think about herself and to be selfless. I forgot that that’s what it means to volunteer. That you, for a moment, don’t think about yourself, but the people around you. It was very touching.
HC:What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced being a coordinator? How has that helped you grow as a person?
LL: The biggest challenge is completing everything and making it work until the last minute, because there is always something that goes wrong. You can’t control everything. So it’s keeping yourself together and then making it work . Even though something went wrong, you’re like “ Okay, let’s keep moving forward.” It really taught me that as a person that when something goes wrong to just say “Okay, lets do it. Lets find a solution.” So that’s something what really was a challenge for me because I was really shy and also when something bad happened I would get scared.
HC: Has your volunteer work influenced your artwork?
LL: Yeah, I think that volunteering really influenced me because now I see how much of an impact makes, and also all the social issues that are going on in society, in general. It inspires me in my illustrations. I tend to sketch a lot about any social issues that goes along with poverty, child neglect, or malnutrition among young girls who obsess about being skinny. The pressures of society to be this model person, which you’re not. And being the same as everybody, when artists are supposed to be different.
HC: What keeps you motivated?
LL: After a while you feel something missing, when you’re not volunteering. It’s refreshing to not think about yourself and see how important it is to give to others. Not thinking about receiving, receiving, receiving and just giving. Because by giving you learn more than when you are receiving. And also, I am really happy that I work for SERVE because it’s a nice environment. We all get along and we all support each other all the time. We have a nice community.
HC: Can you tell us about any upcoming events you’re excited for?
LL: This Friday we are doing painting classes at River’s Edge, which is like a retirement home.
I know the coordinator before me worked with them a lot and then we didn’t hear back from them for a while until recently. It’s really nice, I went there once when I was a freshmen. The ladies are very sweet, and they enjoy having the SCAD students to tell their stories to.
HC: If any readers are wondering, how can they get involved with SERVE ?
LL: Oh that’s easy!. We have meetings every two weeks at the Student Center. Every meeting we introduce ourselves, say what we do, and discuss what events we have for the weekend. We hold activities at the meetings so new volunteers can interact with old volunteers. If they’re shy and don’t want to come to the meetings, they can also just visit our SERVE website for more information and what events are coming up. We also have a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!