Community Immersion

I took a class entitled Community Immersion. Through that class I had the opportunity to meet with and learn from professionals from across the community in the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors. This page includes my learning and reflections on some the presenters I found most significant.

For-Profit Sector

Our class was given the opportunity to tour the Food Lion warehouse. Mickey McGinnis, the warehouse supervisor gave us the tour. Food Lion serves millions of people across the country. Seeing the complicated process the warehouse goes through just to serve one single area was baffling. Touring the warehouse and seeing the various workers, working together to complete different tasks showed me how complex running large-scale systems is. If even just one part of the process goes wrong, the whole system is in jeopardy. Seeing this helped me deepen my understanding of why Food Lion and other large companies take such extreme measurements when hiring their management and staff, as they need reliable people to help run the operation.

Mickey McGinnis discusses the safety precautions

Standing next to the produce section

Food Lion serves a crucial role within our community. Not only does it help feed a significant part of the Rowan County population, but it provides jobs and other services as well. Seeing the "behind the scenes" work gave me further insight into what it takes to run an organization.

Non-Profit Sector

Rowan Helping Ministries is a critical organization in Rowan County. They provide not only food and shelter to those and need, but they are also connected to various organizations that are available to the most vulnerable within our community. Our class was able to tour the campus and see the resources they had to offer to those in crisis. Kyna Grubb, the executive director of Rowan Helping Ministries gave us the tour around the property.

I went in with the idea Rowan Helping Ministries served only as a food bank and homeless shelter, and I was surprised to learn how vast the non-profit was. Rowan Helping Ministries had educational services, a food bank, a shelter, mental health services, medical accommodations, and so much more to aid those in need. This tour surprised me. I learned so much within just a short time and my eyes were opened to how important these services are to the community. Some so many people need help, and places such as Rowan Helping Ministries are actively keeping the community together by aiding these people in need.

Walking from Rowan Help Ministries' old location, to their new one

Seeing the immense impact Rowan Helping Ministries has on the community deepened my appreciation and support of the organization. I was also able to learn the connection between non-profits and for-profits. I learned the importance of having support from larger-scale companies, and members from the community to help service organizations.

Government

The Rowan County Gateway Building is home to the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Commission, and Tourism Bureau. We spoke to various members of each branch and learned about various parts that work to keep our county going and the connections between them.

The Chamber of Commerce works to help keep businesses within the county running. When the businesses are succeeding, so is the county's economy. The Tourism Bureau works to promote the county and its features to non-locals. The Bureau has a similar objective to the Chamber of Commerce which is to keep the county abundant and financially healthy. Lastly comes the Economic Development Commission, which serves to bring land development and business growth within the community.

Each organization functions differently and has differing roles, however, they all have the end goal of serving our county and reaching to keep it financially sound. I first believed they all worked vastly differently with varying goals, however, I came to realize they all are really working together, with a very similar goal.

After taking the time to learn about the organization's functions from some of its top team members, I realized how invested so many are in keeping Rowan County in shape. The way each of the systems connected was shocking, and I learned how many different systems and people it takes to just accomplish one large-scale goal.

Economic Development Commision

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