BROOKINGS, S.D. — Jennifer Freeman of Rapid City was recognized by The Helpline Center and Black Hills Urgent Care for her more than 450 hours of volunteer service as an SDSU Extension AmeriCorps member in 2016.
“Despite operating a thriving massage business and being a mother to three boys, Jen still finds time to serve her community. I always knew that I could count on Jen. She was a big part of our 2016 AmeriCorps program’s success,” said Prairey Walkling, SDSU Extension Community Development Field Specialist who nominated Freeman for this honor.
Since beginning her volunteer work in January 2016, Freeman has co-facilitated nutrition education classes with youth in the Ignite program and afterschool/summer program at Oyate Center in Lakota Homes. She led the youth gardening project at Ignite – Oyate Woyazu Waste – guiding youth from starting seeds indoors to harvest and food preservation.
“Nutrition education is my passion. For kids, it’s survival,” says Freeman, who is a massage therapist and enjoys learning about nutrition. “Nutrition and gardening education give kids a chance. It gives them power. It gives them a voice. Otherwise they are just victims to whatever is fed to them or put in front of them.”
Freeman says moving to Rapid City from Las Vegas, Nevada sparked her interest in gardening.
“When I moved up here from the desert, the fact I could take a tiny seed and put it in the ground and give it water and minimal attention and it would produce food was a mind blowing concept,” Freeman says of the hobby-turned outreach opportunity she practices with her sons, Jakob Garner, 16, Marley Curtis, 13 and Joshua Garner, 11. “The boys were instrumental in the work we accomplished over the summer. Anytime we had loads of dirt to haul or ground to move, I loaded them in truck and they were there with me.”
Freeman also helped facilitate gardening classes at the Club for Boys and Knollwood Elementary’s Discovery Center. In total, more than 200 Rapid City youth participated in these gardening classes facilitated by AmeriCorps members. Additionally, she helped initiate two new community gardens in 2016 and assisted with the Pick It! Try It! Like It! Event at the Black Hills Farmers Market. Freeman also helps with outdoor education with Pennington County 4-H programs. To top it all off, Freeman and her family prepare food and distribute it to the homeless each week.
“You can only sit in front of the TV so much – and what’s the reward in that? Getting your fingers dirty or looking at bugs with kids or when the first fruit comes on and everyone is excited – there just isn’t anything better,” she says of volunteering her time.
The Volunteer of the Month program is sponsored by the Helpline Center and Black Hills Urgent Care, a division of Black Hills Surgical Hospital. Volunteer of the Month recognizes outstanding individuals who make the community stronger through volunteerism.
Helpline Center and Black Hills Urgent Care presented Freeman with a framed certificate, gifts from Black Hills Urgent Care and a letter of appreciation from Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender. The Helpline Center will also recognize Freeman at the Spirit of Volunteerism Awards banquet on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at the Best Western Ramkota/Minervas.
For information on volunteer opportunities, please call the Helpline Center at 211 or visit www.helplinecenter.org.
— SDSU Extension
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