This month I continued to assist with preparations for the Core Medical Interpreter Training (CMIT), which started on the third Saturday of this month; CMIT was developed by the National Institute for Coordinated Health Care (NICHC). CMIT will take place Saturdays and Sundays from October 21 to November 12. Although I think I gained lots of great experience helping with CMIT, it was a bit nerve wracking at time because I knew my role was important and I just wanted to help the applicants as best as possible. The real challenge with the program came when it the registration process was over because there wasn’t a lot of time until the program began—and I had a lot to do. For instance, I had to make sure the scholarship applications were reviewed by the scholarship committee; then, I conveyed this information to the applicants.
Next, I informed all of the candidates how much they had to pay and collect their payment. At the same time, I instructed all of the candidates to sign up for a language proficiency exam with an outside party, which was really difficult because the process takes a bit longer than we anticipated. Even though this entire process was challenging for me, I think it went very well. All but one of the candidates followed through and participated in CMIT. On the first day, I went to the morning portion of the training and introduced myself to all of the candidates; it was really great to see everyone as well as give them a chance to put a face with my name. That same day I attended a multicultural festival in town, and it was fun to meet new people and spread the word about KITA.
In October, I also scheduled fundraisers and interpreter meet-ups for November. The fundraisers and interpreter meet-ups will happen together, and we want to have on a month. We have one at MOD Pizza November 8 and one at Buffalo Wild Wings on November 29. We planned the Buffalo Wild Wings fundraiser/meet-up at the end of November to serve as a way to kick off the GoodGiving Challenge, which had started the previous day on Giving Tuesday. This month I also worked with one of the board members on preparing for the GoodGiving Challenge, which entailed various activities and duties. I attended the workshops hosted by the Blue Grass Community Foundation, prepared social media posts to promote the Challenge, and recorded short interview videos so that we could post examples of why community members support KITA. I also collected information about most of the board members to make graphics to introduce them on social media, so that our audience (and donors) could get to know the forces behind KITA’s endeavors.
Later in the month we also attended the Winburn Community Partners. The festival is intended to celebrate the Winburn community and bring neighbors together for a day full of fun and entertainment, including local ethnic food trucks, music from local bands, and children activities. We attended the festival to share KITA’s message about the importance of trained interpreters/translators and encourage anyone who may be bilingual consider becoming a trained interpreter. The Winburn Mulitcultural Festival is hosted by Winburn Multicultural Festival in partnership with Community Action Council and sponsored by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, PNC Bank, Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky.