One weekend when I was visiting my parents I was given the opportunity to help out at a local church to serve their daily meal. This meal that they offer is all homemade by members of the church. Usual volunteers just come and help set up or serve the meal. I was able to come and actually help prepare for the meal by chopping, peeling, mixing and all sorts of things, as well as set up the dining area.
This church has an incredible support system
that allows them to have an enormous amount of
food. They take donations from the community
and local grocery stores. They make daily trips to
stores and pick up items that have not been sold by
the ‘must sell date’. A lot of these items are from
the bakery and include fresh breads, rolls, cakes,
donuts, and bagels. Everything that was collected
was then put in bags, about 3 items per bag and then
they were given to the people who come to the
meal before they leave. The meal they serve is
dinner, and it is open to anyone in the community
that may not be able to support enough for their family.
It is restaurant style, which I thought was really cool! It makes it more comfortable for the people that are coming and give everyone a chance to interact more with people. Not only does this church offer food, but they also provide basic hygiene products such as shampoo, body wash, razors, toothbrushes and toothpaste, diapers, and baby wipes.
This experience shows me directly how you cannot tell by a person’s exterior if they are in need of help. I saw a few people whom I have know from high school come in with parents that I always thought was a well off family. It really showed that you HAVE to assume diversity. After interacting with a few people during their meal, it was apparent how situations can make providing adequate meals for their family nearly impossible.
The only FCS related professional there was a family service worker. She was able to talk to me about all of the statistics that I was not aware of in my own hometown. For example, how many families live in poverty, estimated families that are homeless, and children living in poverty. It was an eye opener for me because I was never aware that this was so close to home. After talking about the current situation in my hometown, I realized how much this church provides for our community. Without this service I believe, strongly, that there would be many families, individuals, and kids going to bed hungry. Especially since they are an open arms kind of church and do not turn away anyone.
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience. I was actually unaware of this service and it was my mom who actually recommended it. I really understand the phrase of assume diversity because you truly NEVER know! I think this will be a regular thing for me in the future.
Amanda Simmons
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