Skip to main content

Food Bank Fun

There are several amazing BBSA events throughout the year, but perhaps my favorite was BBSA Alumni Philanthropy Event. One rainy February morning, we ventured downtown to the Los Angeles Food Bank for the first ever all-belles philanthropy event. The LA Food Bank provides for those experiencing food insecurity, which is roughly 1.4 million Los Angeles County residents, many of whom are children, senior citizens, and families. BBSA is a philanthropic organization at heart, so it was great to have the opportunity to reflect upon our mission and have a hands-on experience with a direct impact on our community.

During the day, we sorted over 18,000lbs of apples and oranges to be distributed to elementary schools in underserved neighborhoods so they would have fresh fruit in their lunches. There are several things we often take granted in our everyday lives, so it was impactful and humbling experience to participate in the Food Bank’s efforts to ensure LA County residents have the basic necessity of food. This was also a great time to spend to time catch up with some of my closest friends, get to know more of the new baby belles whom I hadn’t met yet, and meet some of our incredible belles alumni (and gain some post-grad advice, too)!

Before joining BBSA my junior year, I felt somewhat disconnected from the UCLA campus culture. At that point, I was halfway through college, but I realized I wasn’t engaging with all the amazing student-run organizations UCLA prides itself on. Moreover, throughout high school, I had always been involved with consistent volunteering opportunities and realized that this was deficiency in my college experience. By sheer luck, I ran into one of my friends who was flyering for BBSA at the Enormous Activities Fair and she encouraged me to apply. I am so fortunate to have found BBSA and significantly change my second half college for the better.


The Alumni Philanthropy event was a not only a great way to be involved with our LA community, but it also made me reflect on my past two years in this organization. Before I joined, I couldn’t have imagined all the amazing friendships and experiences BBSA would give me, but now I can’t even imagine my college experience without it.

Gina Grainda

Distinguished Belle







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I Didn't Know

  What I didn't know The morning after I got the highly anticipated call that I got into Bruin Belles, I found this bell (figure 1) on my dorm door: a door belle…get it? I can still very clearly remember the few weeks surrounding this moment. I wanted it SO BADLY! When I saw the Belles tri-fold at the enormous activities fair, I knew immediately that I needed to be a part of that community. On paper, it sounded like everything I wanted: a group of likeminded passionate women who did community service together and other social events. I worked tirelessly on my application and was so nervous for my interview that I signed up for the very first slot (Monday at 8am… yikes). I got the long-awaited call late on a Friday night. Yashvi, the public relations director at the time, told me that I had gotten in, and while still on the phone I screamed “I GOT IN!” to my roommate. My heart was beating so fast. However, I think if I had known what was to come, my heart would have beat so fast it
Post a Comment
Read more

Stepping Outside my Comfort Zone

Spring Retreat 2023 was by far one of the highlights of my BBSA experience, for reasons I never expected. Throughout my second year in Belles I served as a Social DB, and for this retreat, was tasked with the job of heading the Activities Committee. A couple months of planning and preparation later, I was wracked with anxiety about being so in charge– what if nobody had fun? What if we planned too much? Too little? What if someone gets hurt, what if I screw up as a host, what if quite literally anything negative happens? It was a very rigid, unforgiving feeling, and I was then left with the personal expectation that I was going to get there and not be able to enjoy myself because of this pressure. I was terrified of letting anyone down, especially so because this was the first weekend retreat Belles has hosted in years. If anything went awry, I felt fully unprepared to handle it, but at least I could say I had considered the worst. I tried to take solace in that semblance of control,
Post a Comment
Read more

Finding My Home

  My time as a Bruin Belle has been incredibly transformative. This exceptional group of empowered women has not only enriched my college experience but also inspired me to make a lasting impact on the world. Entering UCLA, I was eager to find a community that aligned with my passion for service and personal growth. Joining the Bruin Belles provided that and more—a warm embrace within the vast UCLA landscape. At the core of our experience is our dedication to service, from local volunteer work to impactful fundraisers. We take action, build connections, and create change within our community. Being a Belle has given me the opportunity to volunteer for initiatives such as dog adoption, environmental activism, food insecurity, education advocacy, and houselessness. Through volunteering in various areas of our community, I have found purpose and a newfound passion for advocacy. Additionally, BBSA is more than a service organization to me; we are a sisterhood that fosters leadership. The s
Post a Comment
Read more