Leadership

Coordinate To Build A Stronger Community

OVERVIEW
After volunteering for COVID-19 orders and taking various courses at the University of South Carolina, including POLI 374, I learned about poverty within South Carolina and how to combat it. the City of Columbia has nearly a quarter of its population living in poverty, approximately 24.3%, according to the 2020 Census. No person should have to live with a lack of security and fear that is brought on with poverty. That said, Columbia has the manpower and resources to fight against poverty by providing much needed necessities such as clothing, food and shelter to those in need. In fact there are multiple organizations, clubs and groups that are individually working to do so already. The issue is a lack of coordination between these groups within the City of Columbia. This includes nonprofits, military organizations and clubs at the University of South Carolina.

Head Army, Navy, Marine and Airforce ROTC Instructors May 2022

IMPLEMENTATION
The first step for a Volunteer Officer would be to establish communications between clubs, organizations, ROTC units, and all other groups. In my experience the best location for this position would be in USC’s Veteran and Military Services office. This office already branches the gap between the military population in Columbia and University students. After the position is created, meeting times would need to be established to coordinate and understand each organization's capabilities and position.
The recommendation is to Establish Bi-Weekly meetings with the SMIs (Senior Military Instructors) of each branch of ROTC as well as the President of the Student’s Veterans Association, President of Murphy’s Club (Leadership Club) and the Student Government at USC. A calendar would be created and shared via one drive to each organization to upload their individual volunteer efforts. At this point Bi-Weekly meetings would be to consolidate these smaller efforts into larger shared efforts and create a platform via social media to promote.
Key Tasks:
Developing a shared calendar for all organizations and distributing that calendar.
Establish yearly goals to meet and track
Total number of total volunteer events
Number of clothes donated
Pounds of food donated
Number of organizations included in the shared calendar

Continuously communicate and coordinate with all organizations. Should there be a need for a service within the community, all organizations would be notified and able to assist as needed (natural disaster response (including floods and hurricanes), house fires displacing families, etc.)

EVALUATION
Each year ROTC programs, clubs, and other organizations conduct food drives, coat drives, and other volunteer events. The easiest way to evaluate the success of the Volunteer Officer is to measure the total amount of food donated, clothing donated and other quantifiable volunteer efforts. This process is extremely results based, meaning that success is based on what we can quantify, as mentioned above. Additionally, it should also be noted that there are unquantifiable benefits of coordination such as networking, Esprit De Corps among the armed forces and the veteran community, as well as a long lasting sense of community developed in the City of Columbia through the University of South Carolina.

Windy 25 Memorial 5k Fund Raiser

SOLUTION
As a student and active member of the Veteran and Military community at USC I understand that every ROTC program, Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, at USC makes an effort to give back to the community through volunteer efforts like those mentioned above. However, the issue is there is often limited or no communication between these organizations and the University and as I learned in POLI 370 (Public Administration) a collective group will always have a greater impact than an individual. That said, if all the ROTC programs at USC, as well as additional University clubs, such as Murphy’s Club, had unified volunteer efforts, we could maximize our impact and accomplish the shared goal of combating poverty within the City of Columbia. In order to coordinate and establish this shared goal we need an individual that is responsible for cross communication between all organizations. My proposal is to create a position at Veteran and Military Services, a Volunteer Officer, that is responsible for communicating to the heads of each ROTC program, USC’s Student Veterans Association, and other University clubs, to organize volunteer efforts that include students, veterans, and current members of the armed forces, including ROTC Cadets.
In Fall of 2022, I was the Army ROTC Gamecock Battalion Commander, the Gamecock Battalion consisted of over 200 cadets and six universities. We donated over 660 lbs of non-perishables as well as over 100 pieces of clothing during our Fall Food Drive and Coat Drive. If we included the Navy, Marines and Air Force Cadets in those efforts, the number of Cadets would’ve almost doubled to roughly 350. Additionally, a Volunteer Officer at Veteran and Military Services would be able to coordinate between ROTC Units and USC’s Student Veterans Association, clubs, and organizations to maximize the number of individuals who would then contribute to these efforts resulting in a larger impact for the City of Columbia. This position, Volunteer Officer, would lead to a greater impact in the City of Columbia, and directly impact those most in need in our community. University Organizations, Clubs, ROTC programs, Student’s Veterans Association, and current military members all have a deep drive to serve our community, coordination and joint efforts would allow all of these organizations to provide the maximum amount of aid to the City of Columbia.

USC's Veteran and Military Services Host's a Workshop November 2022

§ The Gamecock Battalion (Army ROTC) consists of six universities: The University of South Carolina (Columbia), Morris College, Benedict College, Allen College, Francis Marion University and Coastal Carolina University

Sources:
“U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: Columbia City, South Carolina.” U.S. Census Bureau, 2022, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/IPE120221.
“ROTC at The University Of South Carolina.” Army - ROTC | University of South Carolina, Jan. 2023, https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/rotc/army/index.php.