Food Bank

Throughout this year, I have done many different types of community service. Whether it be tutoring, food distribution, or simple manual labor, there has been one consistent factor through all of them. I have done almost all of these services alone. When I decided to work at the food pantry, I was optimistic about the amount of people that we as a group would be able to help. I learned at the food pantry that there is a substantial difference between working by yourself, like I usually do and working with friends. By yourself, there are certain limits to the number of things you can accomplish. You only have a certain amount of energy you can commit to your goal and therefore that lessens many of your possibilities. But when you work with friends, your abilities to work and think are greatly increased, as instead of having one mindset, you have many.  Most importantly, I felt that I could accomplish more in a group, than I ever could working as an individual. I saw yesterday how much time and effort everyone put in to helping at the food pantry and I could not wait to see what we are able to do when we put that same effort into different things. I know that as a team, we were able to find and do something that we are truly passionate about like packing food for the homeless.

During the experience of packing and handing out food, I felt like I was living a more Christ like life. I also felt that seeing a different economic level opened my eyes to the poverty that is all around us, and it allowed me to feel for the people who may not have food or a place to live. I remember one Sunday when I was working at San Mateo handing out food to underprivileged families. I specifically remember looking at some of the kids that were hungry and seeing the joy when they got all the food. This experience has allowed me to gain a greater understanding for the underprivileged families in the Houston area and around the world. While packaging food, my group and I participated in a program called backpack buddies. Backpack buddies gives food to kids who only eat when at school. When packaging the food all I could think about were the kids that would be overjoyed when they received this food. The Houston Food bank is an amazing place that allowed me to both package and deliver food to underprivileged kids and families.

Looking back on the experience I have a greater appreciation for all that I have especially the food. Seeing the reactions of the kids when they are receiving food changed my perspective on the world. We live in such a privileged and lucky society and I sometimes forget that there are people with little to no food or shelter. All in all, I enjoyed growing closer to God and reminding myself of all the things people need in the world.