Jenna: Just Do It

The past two days have showed me how easy giving can be. You don't need an organization, a location, or anyone other than yourself. You don't need to find a bad neighborhood, or spend a lot of time or money. Give a sandwich to a struggling person, a flower to an elderly woman on the subway.  Just give anything to anyone, and put a smile on both of your faces. Service doesn't have to be a thing categorized by wealth either, it can just be doing a nice thing. Pay for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop, maybe you'll change their day for the better, and maybe they'll pay it forward. Service is so easy, you don't need a reason other than to spread happiness and hope.

Chantal: Flowers and Paper Bags

The biggest thing I learned on this trip is how to serve and love people in everyday life with random acts of kindness. On Sunday, My group bought some flowers and handed them out to strangers. They didn't have to be homeless, which just gave a flower to anyone we thought needed one. People were very receptive and grateful. We were able to brighten someone's day with a small token of kindness.
On Monday, our group as a whole handed out PB&J sandwiches to the homeless. On the bags were kind and encouraging words. It was really fun being able to help make someone's day better with a small simple act.

~Chantal King

SUENING: HELPER'S HIGH

            Because the head leader of Caldwell Soup Kitchen had to make an emergency flight across seas, there was a change of plans. We were no longer going to volunteer at that service site. Nonetheless, we still participated in an act of service. Today, we were given the freedom to wander across the big city of New York with one task in mind: complete a random act of kindness. 

            I started the day unsure of what my random act of kindness would be. I started google-ing and youtube-ing other acts of kindness for inspiration, but nothing really struck me. I thought maybe I would give out flowers or hold the line for someone. Maybe I would buy someone food. I wanted to do something different, but something that I knew would really be appreciated. By mid-day, I was still unsure of what to do. I ordered a tall green tea from Starbucks like I always do and as I reached for a straw I realized that there was only one straw left. I told the barista that he had run out of straws but he said there's more where the condiments were. Ding-ding-ding! A bulb went off in my head. I was going to transfer the straws from the condiment section to the straws at the counter. While it sounded like an awesome idea being that it was overwhelmingly busy, it also sounded like a foolish and weird idea. I walked around a bit and thought it over. I don't know what pushed me to do it, but I came back. This time, being that it was my second time around and there was already Starbucks in my hand, I felt even more foolish. I hesitated a few more times before I actually took the handful of straws and transferred it to the counter. When I did the transfer, a lady working there noticed and her face lit up as she thanked me. Automatically, I experienced this type of high that others have described to me as "helper's high." Something inside me felt great and left me wanting to do more. I told Julie, my friend who was with me at the time, that we needed to go to the next café ASAP and see if they needed any straws that needed to be replaced. Though we never actually visited the next café nor checked out their straw situation, I learned that no matter how foolish of minuscule a deed seems, it is still a deed and someone still benefits. 

SUNDAY, 15 MARCH 2015 || SUENING, BARBARA 19

Dana Logue: Service in the Big Apple

3/15/2015

Today, our service was to perform Random Acts of Kindness throughout the city as we explored.  For my first act of kindness, I paid for a young girl’s meal at McDonald's who was standing in front of me.  She was very confused as to why I did it and I simply replied ‘because pay it forward.’  Hopefully because of my act of kindness, she will feel inclined to do the same in the future and make someone’s day a little bit better. 

Another act of kindness that I performed with my friend Peter was buying a homeless man and women a coffee and food from McDonald’s.  They were very grateful when we handed them the food, and we got to talk to them to hear their story.  The man and the women moved up to New York from Florida and bought an apartment online.  When they got to New York, the apartment deal ended up being a scam.  He lost his job and she fell ill, and before they knew it everything they had was gone and they were on the street homeless. They are now trying to get enough money to make it back to Florida, and I feel that through our random act of kindness we are bringing them one step closer to that goal.

While we were talking to the couple, they mentioned that they ‘live’ on the path: The NJ transit line.  Peter thought it would be a good idea to go there to see if there were other homeless people we could help.  At Penn Station, we purchased coffee and bagels and handed them out to the homeless people we saw down there.  I was extremely happy that my random act of kindness helped the homeless men and women of New York, but was very sad when I saw the NYPD come and wake the homeless people up to get out of Penn Station.  They have nowhere else to go, and they were not bothering anyone.  This just goes to show that even though our random acts of kindness help in the moment, there is much more to be done to improve the quality of life for the homeless population. 

3/16/2015

            Today we woke up and made peanut butter and jelly sandwich bag lunches to be handed out to the homeless men and women around New York.  We started at Port Authority, and then went to Grand Central Station and Penn Station.  By going to these places, I was able to become more comfortable with the NYC community.  Before this trip, I had never been on a Subway, to Grand Central, or to Port Authority. Immersing myself in the NYC culture gives me a greater appreciation for the city and its diversity as this is what gives the city life.  My experience in New York also allowed me to understand the homeless people and their struggle on a deeper level.  Most of the people who are homeless did not plan for this to happen to them, and at one point were just like us.  It is sad to see them on the streets with most people that walk by ignoring them.  I am definitely guilty of ignoring the homeless, or ‘turning the other cheek’ at times, but by dealing with them head on I now see them in a different light.

Ashley Cummins : 'All you need is LOVE"

Today was a 360 from Friday when the ASB honors had volunteered at the Caldwell Church soup kitchen in the Bronx. Instead of those in need having to come to us we went to them and offered  delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What made it even more special were the messages about love, strength, courage and inspiration that were hand written on the paper bags. It was this little extra touch of love that New York City needs. Love, compassion, patience it seems the world does not have enough of it these days or really just not giving enough compassion to those who need it the most. So it felt good today to spend the morning making a couple dozen sandwiches, write a message of love and pass them out with a warm smile.

PB& Jessica

 Aivy paying for the lady behind her at Dunkin Donuts

       Today and yesterday were different from your everyday, "usual" types of service. Yesterday we went out and decided to do random acts of kindness for everyday people. Today we made peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches and then took them around train stations and gave them to the homeless. Even though our original plans got cancelled and switched around to a bit more unorganized, we still helped people out and made their days. These past two days we went out on our own, with no one really giving us much directions, and served people. It was really cool to see all of the different ways that we could help people and put a smile on their face. It could be as simple as paying for the person behind you in line at dunkin donuts, or at the MoMA or helping someone find their way in New York city. Doing these different types of service made me realize that there are a lot of ways to serve people besides going to a soup kitchen. There are plenty of simple ways to serve and you could turn someones whole day around just by giving them a peanut butter and jelly.


                                   

PB&Js for the homeless

PETER BUTTER JELLY TIME

Our service over the past few days has been diverse: we worked in a soup kitchen giving food to anyone seeking a hot meal on Saturday, we committed random acts of kindness on Sunday, and today we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give out to people in Penn and Grand Central stations, and on the street. What I liked best about our service on the street today and yesterday was that it was unlike anything I have done before. At home in high school, I worked consistently at a food bank one Saturday a month, with some other random volunteer experiences through school organizations sprinkled in throughout the years. As a result, I thought that doing community service was going to a specific place at a specific time and performing a specific task. And once it was done, I went home and ate lunch and went on with my day. What we have done these past two days has shown me that service is accessible and it comes in many forms. “Doing service” does not simply mean signing up for a time slot and then going on with your ceaseless activities – it is a way of life, a job, a duty, even. The things we did this past weekend were completely accessible to anyone, which is what I liked best about them. Anyone can buy a homeless couple a cheeseburger and coffee and listen to their story of they lost everything in a housing scam that left them on the streets. Anyone can buy flowers and hand them out to strangers. And anyone can make a sandwich. These are things that can be done on a daily basis. They are not time commitments or things you have to schedule your day around like more organized forms of service. While organized service is certainly beneficial and is great to do, these things are small and seemingly insignificant, but they are profound, as I have seen.

            Today while we were handing out sandwiches near Grand Central Station, we handed one to a man who looked like he was not in the best situation. He walked away after we handed it to him, but he kept looking back at us as we continued up the street. He came up to us and explained that he was from Kenya and was on his way to renew his passport. He told us he was a cancer patient, and that he appreciated what we had given him. Though it sounds corny and cliché, the smallest things can have a strong effect, both for someone who gives and for someone who receives. What I have learned from this experience, from listening to people and giving, is that everyone has a story, and people are not at all what they appear to be on the surface. Homeless people are not crazy, and you do not have to be homeless to deserve an act of kindness. We had no way to know that the Kenyan man was a cancer patient in need of renewing his passport, nor could we know that he would be grateful for what we gave him. I have learned that I can be a part of making someone’s story improve, even by doing things that are simple.

-Peter