Volunteer Blog Post #1
- I see volunteering as a necessary activity to show how we are not solely driven by the acknowledgment of more formal social achievements such as money, merit, or honor. Sometimes things need to be done because the outcome will result with others worse off had you not participated and showed effort at all. Whether this be through working with children, the elderly, the poor, and so on, I see it as an act of good faith to help the less fortunate, with no ulterior motives other than helping.
2. For my first volunteering trip, I helped out in the soup kitchen at St. Mary’s Parish in Bloomington. The “Loaves and Fishes” soup kitchen sets up shop in the church basement every Tuesday and Thursday from around 9:30 to noon.
I know I can speak for myself when I say that I have lived an extremely privileged life. I was born in a two parent household surrounded with love and support regardless of how I may have acted or whatever stupid decisions I have made. It is essential to understanding the human condition to realize that not everyone has an equal shot at the life that they deserve to live. Not to be cliche, but the cards that we are dealt with at birth are just merely chance. Unless you believe in some sort of predetermined Calvinistic life, nobody picks who they are when they are born. Anyways, my point being that volunteer work is essential to understanding the human condition, and in turn the path to becoming a more understanding and complete person.
3. Observations
- Lunch trays, food, cups, misc utensils
- Rubber Gloves for serving
- Basement of St. Mary’s Parish which includes the dining area, a kitchen and a pantry
- 15 volunteers in total which included 7 in the kitchen and 7 helping out on the floor.
4. My responsibilities for this session were very basic as I was only there for around an hour. Lunch was served at 11:30 AM, so at that time the other volunteers and I handed out trays. After that we took drink containers around and filled everyone’s cups. When people were finished eating we took the trays, scraped them, and stacked them in the kitchen window for washing. There wasn’t a whole lot of direction, just several swarms of chaos followed by moments of calm. The work was evenly spread out between us so nobody was doing too much or too little.
A. There was no training, all the activities were very straight forward B. Appreciation from engaging with the community C. Yes I would volunteer here again in the future.
5. I would’ve kept everything the same if given the chance to lead. Every single person had their own individual job so everything worked well in unison. The entire organization worked and moved like an assembly line.
6. You need to be outspoken, social, and helpful in these situations. I don’t really see this soup kitchen facing any particular issues. The church is in a working class neighborhood, so there will always be people around who need a little help.
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