Feeding The Homeless Is Truly An Eye Opening Experience Essay

My community service experience at All Souls Friday Soup Kitchen taught me the impoverished population of New York City and myself. The volunteer work pushed me to better myself in several areas. Serving the diners helped me expand my social skills with fellow workers and customers by forcing me to communicate with others. Also, setting up and deconstructing the dining room helped grow my management skills by having me order where the plates, mugs, etc. should be placed. Most importantly, working at the kitchen helped humanize the poor population of New York City for me. Often on the subway and on the sidewalk, I try my hardest to avoid the homeless man or woman begging for money, acting like they didn’t exist. Gratefully, my experience at

At a young age I discovered a passion for helping others and I have continued to be passionate about serving my community since then. At the age of eight years old I began the first year of what would soon be my ten year membership of 4-H. Through that program and my church’s youth group I truly began to understand what selfless service was all about. I first began helping others by walking dogs at the local shelter and helping my 4-H club clean the sides of the highways. I later was able to experience several mission trips that opened my eyes to the larger aspect of service. My love for helping people continued to grow as I got older and I continued to find ways to make a difference. One of my favorite experiences was getting to help cook and serve a meal at a homeless

The Food Bank volunteering helped me become a better person. Before this program, I didn’t really value of the food that I have every day or the food that I through it away because I did not like it. I did not realize there are many hungry people, right in our community, go to bed at night and their stomach are empty. After helping out at the Food Bank and talking to Sydney, I stopped eating food for fun. Now, I only eat what I need and keep the rest for next meal , instead of buy everything or coke more than what I need and ended up throwing half of the meal away just because I couldn’t eat it all. Also, after going to the Food Bank a few times, I learn that small things in life can make big differences. For example, MSU Food Bank is collecting

In fifth grade I was told I was going to Mexico for spring break, little did I know this vacation would be one of the most life changing experiences I have ever had. I have always been told to do thing for others and to put the less fortunate before myself. I live in a very Catholic household and my family is constantly going to serve at homeless dinners and work at local shelters but I was never truly changed by these experiences until my trip to Mexico. Through this experience I learned that sometimes giving to others benefits me more than I expected.

A volunteering experience that holds a lot of meaning to me was being able to participate in a FCCLA Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Event called Advocacy. As part of my class assignment, my partner and I first had to research a need in our community, state, or throughout our nation and then “advocate it”, or make it know, as well as find a solution. Our research quickly showed that Texas was ranked fourth in the nation for the number of children living in poverty and our own county was ranked 116th out of 264 counties in Texas for the number of children living in conditions below the Federal Poverty Level. This project went from being a class assignment, to a volunteer experience that positively influenced and changed my life in so many ways.

Volunteering at a community health center in my hometown, Santiago de la Frontera in El Salvador changed my perspective on choices. Growing up, I thought that people chose to not brush their teeth. At the age of seven, I immigrated to the USA and didn't have a chance to understand that concept in El Salvador. I went back last summer and assisted an orthodontist. This opened my eyes to realize that some families have to choose between a tooth paste and food. In life, we are not given the same advantages and therefor, we can not make the same choices.

One of the experiences that touched me the most was going to a humble community on Children’s Day. When we got to the place, I gave to a little boy, his present, he smiled, hugged me and told me: “Come back next year please, I feel that I love you right now”. And since that moment I created one of my biggest dreams, being a philanthropist to teach humble communities how to eat with their own sources of food around the world.

One act of service that really changed my outlook on life was making blankets for Project Harmony. Project Harmony is on organization located in Omaha that tries to protect and support children who have been abused. They are equipped with a large range of staff from medical to forensics in pursue of help every child no longer be a victim and seek the help that they need. Every year around late fall, early winter my summer softball club team and I spend two weekends making as many fleece blankets as we can for those at Project Harmony. I say it really changed my outlook on life I remember thinking before we even started making the blankets how long it was going to take and that I had better things that I could have been doing. So already off the bat I went into a situation with a negative mindset.

A typical Poulin Family Saturday includes smells of pancakes and butter, fresh air accompanied with yard work, and lots of homework. On one Saturday in June, my mom stopped us in stride and reminded us that this Saturday we would be packing meals with Feed My Starving Children. I didn’t know what to expect and honestly I spent more time thinking about what I would wear (picking out my outfit) to/for the event than what I would actually be doing there. When we got to Calvary E Free Church, the FMSC staff showed us a video about chronically hungry children around the world and how Feed My Starving Children provides nutritious meals to these children…so they can survive. It was hard to look at the pictures of the malnourished kids. It was too painful…For two hours we packed rice, soy, vegetables, and vitamins in small bags and loaded them onto a semi...I went home and totally forgot about this experience. The emotion I felt during the true stories was just that…emotion.

She gives me hope that there will be a change in society that will focus on ebbing hunger insecurities in America.

That meaningful time when I put my own needs behind me and worked toward the greater good was for my school Club Friends of Fisher House. This club works with the local fisher house in Tampa, Florida, as a club, we use our time to volunteer and raise money and collect items for the Fisher House. The Fisher House is a place for the loved ones of veterans to stay for free while the veterans are receiving treatment in the VA hospital. This club is the only such high school club in the united states thus the road that is being pioneered is a new one for many. Our club allows for the use of student time to be used to gain money for the comfort items that keep the Fisher house feeling like home to the many families that stay there annually. Joining this club has allowed for me to see how the house works and meet some of the families that are helped by the Fisher House.

By participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk and making sandwiches for the homeless, I learned about the importance of selflessness. Because there is no cure for diabetes yet, raising awareness and money for a cure is imperative. Knowing that I put those afflicted with a disease before myself and try to positively affect their lives in any way I can is truly a lovely feeling. I would get the same feeling when I would participate in the March of Dimes Walk, a walk for an organization dedicated to improving the lives of babies born prematurely. Preparing sandwiches for the homeless shifted my perspective.

Throughout my entire life I have been told that life is not fair. I have been told that some people have the luxury of living a healthy and successful life, while others must endure the struggles of being poor, sick, or unhappy. This concept was nearly impossible for me to grasp at a young age. As far as I knew, everyone lived the safe, fun, and exciting life that I had been accustomed to. It was not until my father and I were given the opportunity feeding the homeless citizens of Detroit that I was able to amply understand the extent of unfairness that accompanies life.

From this experience volunteering I will hopefully be able to continue tutoring or helping students who are struggling in school. I am going to remember this experience when I am a teacher and be able to pay more attention to the students who are struggling and try my hardest to make sure that no one falls too far behind. I will also make sure that all my students get the help that they need in order to succeed. Overall this experience has taught me a lot and enlightened me with new perspectives from where people come from and their home

My aunt, goes to her church every Wednesday and assist in meal preparation. The church, she attends gives back to the community by feeding the homeless. Over the years she made it her point of duty to assist with meal preparation for the homeless in and around Baltimore city. Her philosophy is if I help somebody as I pass along, then my living will not be in vain. I am impressed by her strength and love, even though she suffers from diabetes at the age of 70 years old, she emphasizes that someone is in a worse position than she is in. Emphasis is placed on how she gained assistance in her time of needs. Several years she worked in a school canteen preparing meals for students. Upon her retirement she became sad and had to go through counselling