An epic end to an epic year: CHIP awarded BEST SERVICE/VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION OF 2011-2012!

This past year, CHIP accomplished many great firsts. We oversaw the expansion of our healthsites to include a wider demographic of people served in the Los Angeles community; we expanded our own network of CHIPsters at USC; and we held our first (ok third) community health fair at USC! With all of that under our belt, what better “first” to top it all off than OUR FIRST NOMINATION AND SELECTION AS THE BEST SERVICE / VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION OF USC, 2011-2012???

As a now-graduated eboard member of CHIP, I am so honored to have been a part of this organization for all 4 of my undergraduate years, whether as volunteer or board member. I’ve seen (and been a part of!) the growth of CHIP to what it is today and have high hopes for the future years!

Congratulations, CHIPsters. To all of you who have volunteered with CHIP, thank you for your commitment and unparalleled enthusiasm (seriously, that’s the stuff of Trojans when facing the kids at our children’s healthsites!)  To the board, thank you for pushing CHIP to go above and beyond its mission to serve the surrounding community. You have all inspired me to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor–like the many others that have experienced what CHIP has to offer!

So thanks again. I hope to see CHIP’s name on that shiny Tommy Trojan trophy again next year–and the next, and the next, and the next…!

<3 Alice Kim, EXPO children’s healthsite co-coordinator, Class of 2012

May 15, 2012 – 9:09 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Easter Egg Making

Hellooo there CHIPsters!

The Easter Egg Making event was CHIP’s first official social event! Volunteers that normally volunteer independently at our various healthsites got a chance to come out and make easter eggs in a social setting. We provided colorful plastic eggs and a variety of candies to fill each with. Each egg also contained a secret message hand-made by the volunteers! These secret messages had interesting science or health related facts like “Did you know that we have as many brain cells as stars in the universe?” or “Did you know that astronauts can’t burp in space?” All the volunteers had a wonderful time eating snacks, mingling, and sharing fun facts with each other while making the eggs. These candy filled eggs were divided up in easter baskets and sent off with our two children’s healthsite coordinator teams to be given out to the kids at Hoover and Expo healthsites.  Take a look at some of the photos from the event! I would say the first social event was a success, wouldn’t you? :]

-Jean

May 2, 2012 – 9:55 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Inglewood Health Fair

Not too long ago, CHIP volunteered at the Inglewood Health Fair. This was a fun experience where we not only got to take several screenings, but we learned a lot as well. The morning started off a little slowly, but we still graciously thank our 2 volunteers, Olivia and Meghan, for helping us set up and for taking the first few screenings during the early morning shift. After they left, the second shift arrived where the traffic picked up a little more. In addition to taking screenings, we watched a presentation on breast cancer given by a breast cancer surgeon. Taylor, Michael, Pallavi, Terrence, and I especially enjoyed hearing members of the audience tell their own personal stories. All in all, it was a fun and productive trip, and we hope to participate again next year!

Good luck with finals and congratulations to all graduates :)

Sara

 

From left to right: Terrence, Pallavi, Michael, Sara (and Taylor behind the camera hehe)

May 1, 2012 – 5:13 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

4/27 EXPO!

Hello Chipsters!

Hope everyone enjoyed their last day of classes. What makes this day even more special was that with the help of our volunteers, CHIP was able to go to EXPO to teach children about our lovely muscles. To start out our lesson, we asked all the children what they already knew about muscles such as how important they are in our lives, and how exercise can help us build STRONGER MUSCLES! Jaws definitely dropped when learning that we have over 600 muscles in our body.

But to make things easier, we simply went over the most common muscles such as the biceps, triceps, hamstrings, quads, and last but not least….. gluteus maximus! This was definitely the muscle that the children enjoyed saying the most :)

After having the muscles shown several times, it was time to test how much everyone remembered with a happy game of simon says! “Simon says point to your _____.” After many games, (seeing as this day was also EXPO’s last day of class) we decided to reward them for being such great kids with eggs filled with candy.

And as this was the last EXPO event for Alice and Jean, we just want to let them both know that they will be missed greatly.

~Tiffany

April 28, 2012 – 11:13 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

SAME!

Hey Chipsters!

Today was our second and last SAME site of the year.  There’s always something so refreshing to leave the USC bubble and venture outwards into the community to provide these screenings. Even as we walked from the car to the church, we could already hear the cheerful music from the service inside. Similar to last time, we were warmly greeted by all the wonderful people at the Second AME church. Thanks to our volunteers Veronica and Omar, we were able to handle the steady stream of people coming for screenings.  The atmosphere at SAME is so full of joy that it is hard to not enjoy our short 1.5 hours there. And of course, we also met two USC alums, which reminded us of just how large the Trojan family is!

Personally, this was my last CHIP healthsite, and after three years, I can honestly say that I have met some of the most incredible people at health sites throughout Los Angeles. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how grateful and appreciative the community is of our screenings, and I only hope that CHIP can continue to expand its reach in the years to come. Happy end of the semester everyone, and good luck on finals!

Brenda

April 22, 2012 – 5:17 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Villa Flores

Located not too far north of USC on Olympic and Flower is a small, humble senior affordable housing community called Villa Flores. I first discovered Villa Flores through Friends and Neighbors Day with the Volunteer Center and realized the kind of opportunities and needs CHIP could fulfill for those residents. As the first semester CHIP has ever worked with Villa Flores, I am glad to say that it has been a joy and a success serving this community, but at the same time, I have so many more aspirations and goals for the relationship between CHIP and Villa Flores.

The affording housing complex is home to about 90 seniors, most of whom are Korean or Spanish speakers and even more that are immobile. As with any other health site, epidemiology is definitely at play here for the Korean population, as a majority of the seniors exhibit high blood glucose levels and are at a high risk for diabetes. Admitting to wanting to know more, a common trend among residents was the desire to have blood cholesterol screenings. Even though funding and logistics of providing such cholesterol tests is complicated, the best that we can do is to inform.

With the help of a local Korean-speaking volunteer group called Toyo and possibly help from CHMC, we hope that we can bring more structured seminars and higher levels of information in addition to the screenings CHIP provides. Every visit to Villa Flores has kept us on our feet. Seniors fill up rows and rows of chairs, waiting for us to call out the number they hold in their hand. From their initial excitement of just getting to see us normal college students to their grateful goodbyes, every moment with each resident is worthwhile. I highly encourage everyone to try to visit this health site at least once next fall!

Until next time, good luck with the rest of this spring semester and finals!

Josh Man

April 18, 2012 – 8:01 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

CHIP Hoover Kids Healthsite: Olympic Fitness Day!

Our last Hoover Kids healthsite of the year was all about fitness and exercise!

Even Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps don’t swim all day. They incorporate other forms of exercise to gain the strength, flexibility, and form to become healthy individuals. That’s why everyone should exercise for at least 30 minutes per day making sure to stretch/warm-up before and cool-down after.

Getting ready for the “Waka Waka” dance warm-up in the gym

So, before beginning our physical activities, Heather (our CHIP Hoover Healthsite coordinator) and our volunteers (Michelle, Jennifer, Chelsea, and I) led a 5 minute stretching and warm-up dance class! We blasted the World Cup song “Waka Waka” by Shakira (Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0&ob=av2e)  in the gym and all the kids danced and went crazy! Even the volunteers were laughing because we were all having so much fun. Not all exercise is dull and tiring. YOU can make it fun!

After warmin-up, the Hoover Elementary kids played dodgeball and did a running relay to boost their heart rates. At the end, everyone gathered together for a last cool down and we passed out cute take-home activities for them to log their exercise daily. In addition, CHIP volunteers passed out colorful Easter eggs filled with sweet treats and a science fact that CHIP members made a couple weeks ago! The kids really loved it! Thank you CHIP members! :)

Hoover kids reading their take-home exercise log

Lastly, this last Hoover healthsite event was truly memorable especially because it was Heather’s final CHIP event. If you didn’t know, Heather has been with CHIP for ~3-4 years (talk about commitment!) and will be leaving for Medical School next Fall! We will all miss her dearly and her dedication to CHIP shines through in everything that she does. So, when the kids and I put together a handmade card that we all signed, there was no question that Heather shed a few tears. We will all miss her & most of all our CHIP kids from Hoover Street Elementary will never forget you!

Heather tearing up after reading our farewell card :( We will miss you!

-Rebecca Lim- CHIP Hoover Healthsite Coordinator :)

April 18, 2012 – 4:42 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

South Park

Sheena and Olivia watch the kids play as we wait for the dance class to start.

There were five South Park events this year and every one was an opportunity to be in an area that rarely sees USC students.  It was great working with the women, many of them spanish-only speakers, who are so focused on staying healthy through dance and seeing their efforts paid off with a normal blood pressure and glucose reading.   Daisy is always so happy to have us and every CHIP member gets some practice!

The kids at South Park occasionally hang out and talk with us about their community.  From them we have learned that the park is in a sad state and the kids have to be careful where they go to stay safe.  The area is a far cry from the well kept parks in other areas of Los Angeles that truly shows the inequities in the city.

If you want a view into the neighborhoods south of USC and make a small difference by promoting healthy living, be sure to make it out to South Park next year!

April 17, 2012 – 10:17 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Hearthstone Happenings: Tales from Terry Manor

Howdy CHIPsters!

This past Friday was a day of mixed feelings.  For those unfamiliar with the USC academic calendar, we’re just a two weeks of classes, a few study days, and a week of finals away from summer.  The end of the semester is always such a blend of excitement and nostalgia, anxiousness and relief, and I’m finding that to be particularly true of this one.  So, when we left for CHIP’s final screenings at Terry Manor for 2011-2012, I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel.  Maybe this is just a bit of projection, but I like to think the weather was somewhat conflicted too, with scattered showers broken by bouts of southern California sunshine.  Fortunately, there were five wonderful CHIP volunteers willing to brave the rain and join me one last time at Terry Manor before parting ways for the summer in just a few weeks.

Once there, we were as usual greeted by a stream of friendly faces eager to have their blood pressure and glucose checked.  As mentioned in earlier posts about Terry Manor, the majority of the residents we see during our visits to Terry Manor speak Korean as a first language, sometimes providing for an added challenge when sharing the reading obtained from a screening with the individual screened.  Even so, each volunteer diligently screened and patiently communicated with all residents interested in our screenings, and we were very much lucky to have a volunteer able to help translate and fill in any gaps upon request.  By the time we had a break at the two tables for screenings, it was nearly time to pack up for the afternoon.

Happy as I am for a good conclusion to a solid year of screenings at Terry Manor, it is nonetheless strange knowing I won’t be back for CHIP’s return there in the fall.  CHIP has been an important part of my time at USC, and the afternoons spent at Terry Manor are no exception. So, with that, I’d like to thank the many splendid volunteers who have made CHIP’s outreach at Terry Manor possible these past few semesters as well as Jennifer, Omar, Tian, Wendy, and Yoon Hyeok for finishing the year so well on Friday!

As somewhat of an aside, yet again my camera enjoyed virtually the whole visit from the comfort of my backpack, so Jessica’s claim to Terry Manor photographer fame continues to go undisputed.  So, I’ll leave you with my favorite Terry Manor picture from the year.  Hope this post finds you and yours well, and I wish you the best with whatever beginnings and ends these next few months hold!

 

Warmly,

Connor
USC CHIP

April 17, 2012 – 7:34 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

4/7/12: Yoga With The ROPE Kids

Greetings, CHIPsters!

This weekend, we got to visit our lovely Rite of Passage Experience (ROPE) kids and teach them a little bit about exercise! Our presentation was about the “Benefits of Regular Exercise” and is part of our series on making healthy decisions in college. The presentation touched on topics like weight maintenance, how much a given person should exercise per week, and the ability of regular exercise to boost your immune system.

Then, we dove right into a quick yoga sesh with USC’s own yoga professor Isabelle Mazumdar, who was kind enough to lend us her (fl)expertise for the morning (apologies for the terrible pun). Not only did the ROPE kids get a taste of what fun forms of exercise are like, but so did we! Even one of the program directors for ROPE joined in, and she ended up making us all look bad! We started off with “Sun Salutations” and ended with my personal favorite yoga pose, Shavasana (where you get to lie down and relax/meditate). We then all got to ask her questions about different practices of yoga and the class that she teaches. She might even have convinced some of us to take her class next Fall!

Thanks to our volunteers, who did such a good job preparing and presenting! Also, this semester’s ROPE kids will be heading off to college in the Fall, so let’s all wish them luck!

Namaste,

Genie

April 9, 2012 – 10:48 pm Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment