Niagara Hospice - Public Relations
Spring 2017
This semester, I took on the position of Special Events Intern at Niagara Hospice. Located in Lockport, this organization is committed to providing as much comfort and care as possible to patients with life-threatening illnesses, often nearing the end of their life. Though they do a lot for their community and patients, Niagara Hospice is a non-profit organization. They receive no funding other than donations and event sponsorship in which they rely on to pay for medical equipment, medical bills, payroll, and many other utilities to make sure the building is up-and-running every day. One heavily-relied on source of income the organization relies on is their events, which is the area I had the pleasure of working in these past four months. When starting this internship, I had various expectations. Now that the internship has been completed, I can conclude that only half were met and half were not.
I attended this internship twice a week every week since the end of January. When I started, I had anticipated being more involved and hands-on in the event planning process, however a majority of the work I did involved Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Publisher. The main event I was present to work on was the Spring Bouquet Sale, which took place from March 6th through the 12th. For this project, the tasks I worked on included calling local businesses to ask if they were taking part in our event, creating a sheet of directions for each driver delivering flowers to businesses throughout the week, creating signage for each booth selling flowers, and putting together kits for each volunteer to bring to their locations. Taking part in these activities did make me feel more involved in the organization as a whole, and watching everything slowly come together was rewarding.
The most rewarding was the week of the event. Leading up to this included contacting numerous volunteers to come and get the flowers to be delivered to businesses, and volunteers usually were on the older side—meaning most were less willing to drive long distances, especially in the rain. I was only able to make one day of the week during the sale (due to the fact that it was spring break and I had made plans to leave town), but it was still interesting to see things come together. Each box contained 10 bouquets that had been shipped in from Mexico, and each business had ordered a different amount for each day. My supervisor, Mandy, and I had organized the number of boxes into groups with the business they were being delivered to, and volunteers came every few minutes or so to set out for delivery to Niagara Falls, Gasport, Pendleton, Lewiston, and other locations across Niagara County. Every so often I would have to make a run out to a business to bring them extra flowers or more change, but other than that the sale as a whole went over smoothly, bringing in approximately $20,000 for the organization. Being there to watch an event we’ve worked on for several months go down with success was a rewarding experience, and I was glad to learn what it was like to plan something from a non-profit standpoint.
Having interned with a non-profit organization before, I already had a loose grasp on what it took to pull something off with limited means. Through interning with Niagara Hospice, I was able to understand a little further. One important aspect of being a non-profit organization is learning the beauty of reusing: reusing signs, supplies, volunteers, money bags, etc. Another is the beauty of having so many volunteers no matter what age, who are willing to do tasks from stuffing envelopes to soliciting donations to driving all over Niagara County; using people that are willing to work for free is a crucial asset. Last, what I learned about working for a non-profit such as Niagara Hospice is that reputation is everything—and when you have a strong bond with people in your community, they want to help you in every way they can whether its by donating or simply spreading positive feedback by word of mouth. All of these things are essential to the up-keeping of a non-profit organization, since the government is not able to provide it themselves.
Though the things listed above were what I was expecting out of this internship, there were some expectations that were not met. When applying for this internship, I thought that I would be doing things that were included in the position’s job description: researching venues, ordering food for events, planning multiple events, etc. However, I only got to assist in one event during my duration at Hospice. The most I got to do for other events included laminating signs for a bike race coming up in June, and research potential gifts to give to families attending another small event in late June. With a little over a month left of my internship, my supervisor put in her two weeks for a new job. This I didn’t have a problem with, however I no longer felt like the Special Events Intern but just another volunteer. I helped out around the office with entering emails into a spreadsheet and doing more laminating for different departments around the office. Towards the end of my internship, I felt like I was no longer needed and found myself having nothing to do but surf the internet and watch the time go by.
In conclusion, I do not regret taking this internship. I am thankful to have learned skills such as maintaining professional relationships with other companies as well as strengthen my knowledge of Microsoft programs. I am thankful I got another chance to learn more about what its like to work for a non-profit organization, and what it means to use the opportunities that are laid out for you. I am grateful that I had the chance to work on and experience an event first hand, and grasp what it’s like to work on an event from beginning to end. I do wish I could have gotten more out of my time there, whether it be experience or networking, however this does not make me regret my choice. Niagara Hospice provided me with an educational experience, and I am grateful to have had this opportunity.