Sunday, October 14, 2012

How undeserving we really are...
  
To be honest, I was really not looking forward to this event. Just the thought of having to leave CBU by 6 A.M and going out all the way to LA to volunteer for some event that I have never even heard of was not very appealing to me. Needless to say, by the end of my day I was overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude and a deeper appreciation for the things that I have taken for granted for so long in my life. We first arrived at the Fred Jordan Mission at skid row at about 9 A.M. and we were broken up into different groups that handled various parts of the event. The group that I was placed in was responsible for handing out Snicker bars and stickers to the kids. The first real shock of the day came for me when some of us in the group went out to the very front of where the line started and began to hand out the Snicker bars to the people that were waiting in line. You would not believe the rate at how fast the Snicker bars were going out. We would literally get rid of a cardboard box full of Snicker bars in less than two minutes and then would have to go back and get more boxes. While doing all of this, I got the chance to talk to a few people that were waiting in line and it blew my mind that some of them were waiting in line since the night before and some had even spent the night there with their pajamas and all. What made it worse was that everyone in the line was packed like sardines in a can and the line was hardly moving at all but you could tell from the look on the kids faces that they were really excited for what the day had in store for them.

After eating lunch with some of the members in my group, I volunteered myself to be an escort for the kids and walk with them through the different booths where they would be receiving free goodies. This was hands down my most favorite part of the day because just being able to be there with the kids and see their reactions whenever they got something new to throw in their bag was a heartwarming experience. I was very humbled by this personally because when I wake up in the morning, I have a hard time picking what outfit I want to wear for the day because I have so many different pairs of shoes and clothes to pick from. These kids were so grateful for whatever was handed to them and rarely had any complaints where I on the other hand need all my clothes to be name brand and top of the line quality. In the end, it made me sad to realize that so many kids out there who are so deserving have so little while people like me have all the things in world plus more and yet are still unhappy with their lives and want more. Overall, volunteering for the Fred Jordan Mission at skid row was an eye opening experience and I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to work with so many underprivileged kids. I know that in the future I will not hesitate at the opportunity to volunteer at an event like this and am looking forward to the next time I can make a difference in someones life.  (This meme below is a bit extreme but I feel like it clearly shows the relationship between kids like me and kids like those that I got the chance to help at the Fred Jordan Mission.)















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