My Health and Human Performance Internship: Yard Sale Prep

By Jessica Turner '17

During my 5th week of my HHP internship at the Franklin County Perinatal Education Center I have worked most of my time on preparation for the spring yard sale. The FCPEC is a non-profit organization so they have to fundraise to get a majority of their money. The yard is one of their biggest fundraisers of the year. So I helped to sort some of the donated clothes into winter and summer clothes based on their sizes. They have a fall and spring yard sale, so they try to only have out summer clothes during the spring yard sale and winter clothes in the fall yard sale. I also have to make sure that the clothes don’t have too many stains or too worn out. If the clothes are have stains or too worn out we either throw them out or donate them to Goodwill. I also got to test out the electrical appliances that have been donated. I tested everything from irons and microwaves to bacon cookers and Christmas lights. I spent two of my days testing all of the different electronics and most of them worked.

During my 6th week, I worked more on the yard sale items. I got to measure and package curtains that were donated. At the beginning I was struggling trying to figure out the best way to measure and fold the curtains because they are so long. After about two or three tries I got it down and was on a roll. I also started organizing childbirth care packages that I had made into girl or boy and winter or summer. I had to figure out the best way to storage them. I found these giant plastic bags labeled them and put the specific package into the big bag. I’ve made so many of these care packages that mothers will be getting these after I finish my internship at FCPEC. That is a very exciting thought for me, that I will be making a small impact on this place even after my internship is up.

The FC Perinatal Education Center is partnered with Bath and Body Works and Tuesday Morning in Roanoke and they will donate items. When the stores get returns that they can’t put back on the shelves they will donate them to us. So there are some very nice and high quality things donated to them, like comforters and lamps. Amy goes and picks up carloads from both stores at least once a week.

I feel like I’m getting into a flow now, I feel comfortable going in and doing whatever Amy asks of me and she can leave me to do it. I’ve been learning how much work goes into putting on a fundraiser and keeping a non-profit running. Amy runs everything basically by herself, does paperwork, sets up classes, and does fundraisers. She has one lady that comes in twice a week to help price and sort donations for the yard sale and another lady that comes in during the mornings and helps answer phones and helps mail out postcards. Other than them, she does everything. You can really see her love for what she does, she never complains about all the work, besides paper work occasionally. She always has a smile on her face and had such a positive attitude.

One heck of a bike commute

Before I could ride my bike to work, I had to ride it home. Let me explain.

One of the best aspects of Ferrum College is its location. It's just far enough away to be isolated, but near enough to have contact with cities like Roanoke and Greensboro. It's also just far enough away to make National Bike to Work Day just a bit epic.

It's 31 miles from Ferrum College to my home in Roanoke. Take the back roads through Franklin County and the scenery is as pretty as anywhere, unless you have a strong dislike for rolling farmland, mountain vistas, gurgling brooks and that kind of stuff.

In the mid-to late 1990's I bicycled these roads regularly. But that was 10 years and 20 pounds ago. I had been wondering if it was still doable and with a little nudge from a buddy who laughed earlier in the week and said sarcastically, "are YOU riding to work on Friday?" I decided I'd do it.

The fitness part of biking to work is just part of the problem. There's logistics. I wanted to have a change of clothes at the College, so I drove to Ferrum on Thursday, with the bike, all my gear and a change of clothes in my beloved Mini Cooper. My plan was to ride home from work, and get up on Friday and ride back.

It made sense for a number of reasons. First of all it was going to take 4 hours plus to make the commute. If I had ridden to work and home in the same day, that would have made for a long Friday. Plus, with minimal time on the bike so far this year, the thought of a night's sleep in between the efforts seemed like a good idea.

So at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, I hopped on my bike and headed over Ferrum Mountain and into the countryside. It was gorgeous. The sun was out, the farmers were cutting hay and for whatever reason, even Boones Mill and the truck traffic seemed quaint. I had kept my eye on Cahas Mountain in the distance and for a time it seemed to get no closer despite my efforts.

Once in Boones Mill I turned off Bethlehem Road and spent less than a mile on the dangerous Route 220 before turning off onto another country road that took me along Maggodee Creek. Just after crossing back into Roanoke County, I descended a hill local cyclists call the "Wall." My speedometer registered 57 miles an hour.

I dragged myself up the hill to my house, pleased but apprehensive. After all, it was 31 miles BACK to work in the morning.

Friday Morning.

Up at 5:30 and the thermometer said 50 degrees. That can be a chilly ride. I upgraded my jersey, threw on a nylon vest, had some coffee, toast and a granola bar and hit the road.

Remember the "Wall?" Now I had to ride up the beast. I actually took my older bike for the return trip because it has easier gearing, but the Wall -- 4 miles into the ride was more than I had in my tired legs. I rode all the way, but "cheated" by looping back and forth across the road. Think of it as creating your own mini-switchbacks.

After that is was a beautiful, twisting downhill for several miles to Boones Mill. The sun warmed things up about 10 degrees, which was perfect.

I stopped to take a photo 18 miles into the ride and thought about how lucky I was to be able to do this.

As Ferrum Mountain emerged in front of me 10 miles later I wasn't so sure. Back in the day my buddies and I played a game to see if we could maintain 10 mph all the way up. This day, success meant just another turn of the pedals.

Be that as it may, the top eventually arrived and it was a thrilling descent back into the heart of the college.

I may do it again as a test of my fitness after what I hope is a summer of riding. But tonight, I'll be happy to see the scenery from the car.

To see the route click Here.