So, last weekend was a little stressful, but good overall. There's always a lot to do when it's the last weekend before finals and this was no different than in previous years. On Friday I had a bit of a freak out session as I realized that I had 4 take home finals (three papers and a radio documentary) to do in less than a week! Scott and I had the chance to hang out quite a bit this weekend, though, and he helped me to realize that everything always gets done, and all of this stuff will get done too. (As I'm writing this, I actually have three out of those four things done and am working on the fourth!) Despite having a lot to do, me and the girls I live with had the chance to do some great service this weekend.
Me and the girls got up early Saturday morning to head down to Cincinnati to work at a food pantry/homeless shelter. We drove down there bright and early at 6:30 in the morning and met some of the other girls that went down Friday night to spend the night at Carol's house. We left from Carol's house and worked at the shelter for about 3 hours and it was a really great experience. We had such a good time chatting with the people coming to the pantry and working to help keep it running smoothly. We took the shoppers around and helped them to pick out items because not all of them could read or speak English and weren't sure how much food they were able to receive from the shelter. Some of the girls are social work majors and even got to go around with the shelter's social worker and learn about their processes. We also sorted clothing and books, got a tour of the homeless shelter and talked with a lot of the regular volunteers. It was so neat to have the opportunity to do that and we were blessed by the people there. We took a lot of food down to donate to the shelter and we were so happy to be able to do that. It is amazing how doing something like that can really change my perspective on things. I get frustrated with myself when I complain about little things, then realize that having food and shelter are basic needs that not everyone has and I should be thankful for that. I feel as though we were helped by being there more than we could be of help to the shelter.
Me and the girls got up early Saturday morning to head down to Cincinnati to work at a food pantry/homeless shelter. We drove down there bright and early at 6:30 in the morning and met some of the other girls that went down Friday night to spend the night at Carol's house. We left from Carol's house and worked at the shelter for about 3 hours and it was a really great experience. We had such a good time chatting with the people coming to the pantry and working to help keep it running smoothly. We took the shoppers around and helped them to pick out items because not all of them could read or speak English and weren't sure how much food they were able to receive from the shelter. Some of the girls are social work majors and even got to go around with the shelter's social worker and learn about their processes. We also sorted clothing and books, got a tour of the homeless shelter and talked with a lot of the regular volunteers. It was so neat to have the opportunity to do that and we were blessed by the people there. We took a lot of food down to donate to the shelter and we were so happy to be able to do that. It is amazing how doing something like that can really change my perspective on things. I get frustrated with myself when I complain about little things, then realize that having food and shelter are basic needs that not everyone has and I should be thankful for that. I feel as though we were helped by being there more than we could be of help to the shelter.
After we left there we had lunch at Carol's house and headed back here in the evening. The rest of the weekend most of us just hung out or worked on homework, but we were definitely touched by Satuday and the people we met that day.
At Bluffton there is always a lot of service opportunities and it's a great chance to grow and definitely learn a lot. I am so thankful for those opportunities and was blessed this weekend with the chance to learn and grow so much from our time in Cincinnati.
Here's to serving, and almost being done with the semester,
Mary
pic: all of us at the pantry/shelter
At Bluffton there is always a lot of service opportunities and it's a great chance to grow and definitely learn a lot. I am so thankful for those opportunities and was blessed this weekend with the chance to learn and grow so much from our time in Cincinnati.
Here's to serving, and almost being done with the semester,
Mary
pic: all of us at the pantry/shelter
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