Community Experience

I was able to go to the Food and Care Coalition in Provo and got to volunteer there. I brought about 100 brownies to serve and got to help with the lunch rotation for an hour and a half. It was such an awesome experience and very rewarding to serve the homeless and the needy there. I thought my experience would be sort of sad and I thought I would see all of these desperate and downtrodden people, but that wasn't what I saw at all. I think it had a lot to do with the way things were run there and the friendly hardworking people who made it a good experience not only for me but for the people who come and eat there every day. There were some workers in the kitchen that seemed like they worked there at the coalition, but some were regular volunteers and they all knew each other. I talked to one lady about how often she goes, and she does it once every week. She made it seem like it wasn't a big deal or very much, but I thought that was amazing! All the workers talked to me and made me feel really good about being there and joining their group. They were such happy and kind people. There was a young man in a wheelchair there who had some physical and mental disabilities, named Sam, and I'm not sure if he was related to anyone there or how he knew the workers, but he joined us in the kitchen and everyone made him feel so important and talked to him and teased him throughout the time I was there. It was so sweet.

I noticed that the homeless people were all very different in many ways. There were men and women. There were people of different races including Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, and probably more. There were people of all different ages: the elderly, children, and mostly middle aged people. Some looked like they had been through rougher times than others. Some looked like they had disabilities. Some were in families and some came all by themselves. They all looked like they hadn't showered or had clean clothes to wear, though. This was hard for me. I wondered whether they were able to stay sometimes at the coalition or if they had to live on the streets. I wondered where all their family members were and if they ever had help from them or from friends around them. Did they have any social capital? When they became homeless, were they cut off from their ties to people they knew? Did those people care about or want to help them? How did they become homeless? I also wondered what they did during the day, especially the children, who I thought should be in school but weren't. All these questions were running through my head the whole time, but I felt too bad to ask them. Was I thinking about these people as a deficit? I didn't mean to, but I think I was. I naturally feel bad for them and that they don't have enough to eat and live on their own. I want them to have what I have and have a warm house and food and clean clothes. So maybe it isn't always bad to think of people as having a problem or deficit? Maybe it's okay to feel sorry for someone and want to wish them the best?

I was surprised how many seemed like they knew each other, though. Although there were many loners, they sat down with people and usually smiled and looked like they had a good time. I was really happy to see this. I also was pleasantly surprised that many of them would come up to me and the other workers, thanking us for what we made them. Some of the workers seemed to know certain people really well and even knew what food preferences or allergies they had and were always trying to be accommodating and giving to them.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience volunteering at the food and care coalition. I was so glad that there's people like the workers I worked with that care so much about the homeless and give of their time so often to help feed them. When I originally called the coalition to ask about volunteer opportunities they told me that their normal food serving jobs have to be booked months in advance because it fills up so fast with volunteers. This is amazing. Everything the workers do to prepare for and serve the people there is so efficient and seems so professionally done. It was a great place to work at, and you can see how happy it makes the people who come there. I'm so glad Provo has a place provided for the homeless to get a really great meal 3 times a day. I wish there were more of these places around. But I definitely know that it is helping our world and the problem of poverty, even just a little bit, by having a place like this and having such wonderful people serving there all the time.