Wednesday, June 27, 2007

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Service Learning Project
Homelessness

The problem that was addressed in our service learning project was homelessness. This problem was addressed because the whole class agreed on it.
My group, my sister Kathy’s group and I combated homelessness by first going to a church nearby called St. Ignatius where we dropped off canned food. I felt like what we had done was insufficient and was not good enough for a passing grade so Michael suggested we go volunteer at a soup kitchen. We dropped the cans off on the twentieth and so six days later we volunteered at a different church.
The people at the Cavalry Chapel were very nice to us and seemed to like us. While Jennifer and my mom separated the chicken, Kathy, Michael, and I rolled up forks in napkins, kind of like taquitos. Later, we all passed out the food to the people who were seated and Jenny even served punch. There must have been around thirty or forty people there, which was actually less than I thought there would be. Since the five of us all helped out, all the work went by quickly.
After we had all eaten and cleaned up we finally left. We had arrived there at about five and left at about eight. Most of the time we were not needed for much but I still thought it was fun.
There is a chance we will go back there, maybe every Tuesday. I felt happy after we had left, not just because we had done a good deed, but because our great friends Jenny and Michael were there with us. By us I mean Kathy and myself.
If I could continue working on the issue of homelessness I would say that there should be more soup kitchens/churches like the Cavalry Chapel. I thought the work was going to be more boring and difficult, but it actually wasn’t. Young people can participate and make a difference in the country by donating and volunteering more often, it’s faster and easier than it looks or sounds. It can even be a little fun.





Service Learning Project
Extra Credit

Poverty

One of the main reasons I chose to help out the group focusing on the poverty issue was because my sisters and I had been planning on donating our bags of old or ugly clothes to some kind of charity for a long time. We just had not gotten around to it, which is why helping that group was convenient and easy. Instead of contacting the poverty group, Kathy, Jennifer, Michael and I decided to go to Goodwill on our own. Jennifer went to a different donation place but me, Kathy and Michael all went together to Goodwill. I and Kathy donated about three big bags of our old clothing and even donated two pairs of somewhat well-conditioned shoes. Michael also donated his own huge bag of who-knows-what (although I’m pretty sure it was clothing). We all entered the Goodwill store, just for a minute, and then dropped off our heavy bags of clothes at the donation area. After the man working there gave us a receipt we all went back home, where we later went to volunteer at a church/soup kitchen. I enjoyed going to Goodwill and maybe we will go back there again when our clothes gets too old or too tight. Donating was really easy and a new, fun experience.






Service Learning Project
EXTRA CREDIT

There was a group in my class that focused on poverty, and what they wanted to do to address the problem was to donate clothes to any organization. What I did to help the group was to get all the clothes that my sisters and I didn’t wear anymore, and we donated it. We filled up three big bags of clothes, and two pairs of shoes that were in usable condition. My friend Michael decided to help, so he got a big bag of his own old clothes, and we all went together to the Goodwill in Glendale. I had never been to Goodwill before, but the place was pretty adequate, and it made me feel good to know that all my old clothes would be used to help out the people who can’t afford clothes. I will try donating anything I can or don’t use, so others can reuse them, instead of throwing it away, because one mans garbage is another mans treasure.






Service Learning Project

The problem that was addressed was to feed the homeless, and the reason I chose that particular problem was because I know there are many people that live in the streets of many California cities. My solution to address the problem was to collect canned food and to give it to any organization or church.
Everyone in my group had to collect or buy ten cans to donate, and we would all go together to donate the cans, help out by distributing food, and clean up afterwards. All my group members bought all their cans, and with the help of Cindy’s group we all went to the St. Ignatius church on June 20. When we arrived at the church, we gave the woman in charge all of the cans and then she signed our Service Learning Graduation Requirement paper. We asked her if we could somehow help out, maybe by feeding the homeless, but she said people had to sign up ahead of time. There was nothing we could do, so we all just went back home.
Helping the community by donating cans felt good, but at the same time I felt unsatisfied, because I didn’t finish addressing the problem, just half of it.
On June 26, my mom, my friends Michael and Jennifer, my sister Cindy and I decided to go to the Cavalry Chapel, where I would finish the other half of the problem. We arrived at about 5:00 pm and the woman in charge put us all in aprons, and then Michael, Cindy and I were put in charge of wrapping napkins around all the forks, while my mom and Jennifer were in the kitchen separating chicken pieces. When all the poor residents living near by were seated, Michael, Cindy and I began distributing the food all around. When we finished giving out the food, we began to clean up. When we left at 8:00 pm and I got home, I felt good for what I had done for the community, and I finally felt fulfilled and satisfied.
I had done a little bit of research on the topic, like looking up different organizations, but we ended up going to the church that Michael’s sister attends.
A way that young people can make a difference in the country is by donating clothes, food or doing any type of service that can better the community. In my opinion the U.S began giving more direct help to the people in need after the Great Depression, and the same system used then is still being used today. In the future I hope to see more young people helping out the community, because their help would make a huge difference.


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