My day
started off with volunteering my time to Manna of Life Ministries. At first it was just their staff and our
group of 20 some volunteers causally chatting and making the sandwiches to give
out. Then, the service really
started. I stayed back at the Manna
House to help give out sandwich bags and soup cups to the people who arrived at
the house. Most were from the homeless
shelter across the street and knew the Manna Staff personally. The staff introduced us and the homeless
shared their stories. For instance, this
one man actually was not homeless at all and still came. He was at one point, homeless, after losing
his job. Then after a long and hard job
search, he obtained a job in a school and started to provide for himself
again. He still shows up to Manna every
Saturday to keep himself grounded and to remind himself of how fortunate he is.
Hearing his
stories and more really made an impact on me.
By listening to these people, I was able to empathize with them and see
them as actual humans and not just homeless people. I could humanize and connect with them. This service day was unlike any other I have
experienced yet. Usually after
volunteering I feel good about myself because I helped out a person and made
their day better. But after this day, I
feel accomplished instead of pride. I
feel like just by listening to them actually made a difference in their lives
and made them feel better. I believe by
that connecting with the people who need help is more important to their well
beings than just providing the necessities to them.
-Mandy
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