Community service is something that I value and hold close to me. Growing up my family wasn’t the wealthiest and thus so we were eligible to apply for many programs that support low income immigrant families. These programs have helped me get to where I am today. I’ve learned to appreciate and value these programs that help young kids get a start at education because I was the product of these programs. I feel it is important to give back to your community, especially if your community set you up for success. Pay it forward, don’t end the cycle of love and support. Do whatever you can to support your community and the people who inhabit it, even if it is not much. What you think might not make a huge difference could mean the world to someone else!
Recently I had the opportunity to visit and volunteer at The Father’s Heart Ministries, a non profit church at 545 E 11th Street that provides support to the homeless and the youth. I helped prevent hunger with the soup kitchen and food pantry that they host almost every Saturday morning of the month. They usually feed about 700 people every Saturday.
When I arrived there with my friends we, and the more than 100 other volunteers, met the director of the program who spoke to us at the podium using a microphone in the dining room, we talked about our objectives for the day and then we separated into roles and groups. I wanted to help pack food downstairs so I chose my job and group accordingly. My job was to help fill grocery bags for the homeless people to take with them when they head out. I was part of a long assembly line of about 13 people that created the bags and then passed them from person to person going from the basement, where the bags started, to the entrance of the lobby where it was handed to the homeless who finished eating at the kitchen. I was at the towards the center of the line. The people at front created the bags and then put it huge containers when they had everything it needed. My job was to pick up the blue grocery bags and start passing it to the next person so they can pass it on and on up to the lobby. For 3 hours I passed grocery bags down the line, talked with my friends, met other volunteers who were apart of our well oiled machine. That day we served almost 830 people breakfast and provided them food for the future.
On a final note I want to say go with friends, it’s much more fun to volunteer and make a difference with your own friends there with you. Volunteering is also a really cool way to network and meet nice people. If you do a really good job you might get offered a job to help run the events and become a group leader (and I can confirm this is true).
