Third-Visit-Father’s-Heart-Ministry-3-13-10

On Saturday I went back to the Father’s Heart Ministry for a second time. I noticed most of the volunteers were new and the setup and jobs remained the same. We started of bring the pantry bags upstairs so we could make room for the soup kitchen dinning hall. We cleaned and set each table and then we were given a brief orientation on what to do. I was assigned as a cleaner, which is one of the hardest jobs. We were given latex gloves and an apron. I had to run from table to table-taking away peoples trash and cleaning the tables. There were a lot of spills so I had to be ready with a sponge and a bucket. There were 8 cleaners and 12 tables and 120 people in the room. It starts to get harder because they have what’s called a rotation meal. This means they have a line outside and when someone finishes the next person takes their seat. This happens for an hour and by the end they serve 400-600 people. Some people didn’t speak English that was a challenge because you would have to get a translator to see what they needed. Some people were grumpy. So I had to approach them with a smile and be as nice to them as I can. Some people were extremely nice and wanted to talk to me. One guy told me how great that it was that I was helping feed them. I felt good and worked more and more until the hour was over. At the end we were given a group speech on how we did well and how many people we served. At the end I interviewed one of the main volunteers that has been volunteering since 1984. His name is Perry and he plays guitar when the people are eating. My first question was how long he has been volunteering here. He said around when it opened. I asked why he works to volunteer. He said it makes you feel good that you are helping other people and that at the end of the day you feel really good inside. I asked if this was the only place he volunteered at. He said that he worked at many other places before this one. I asked what he though about the food stamp program. He said that it was a good program but it does what it does and nothing more. He also said that not everyone is getting food stamps because of reasons like financial problems. I agreed and though that some people are afraid of helping organizations and what they will do. I finally asked one main question. How do you think the hunger crisis can be solved? He explained that a lot of things could be done. Like volunteering, if everyone were to help that a problem like that one could be solved. Not just volunteering at a soup kitchen, but in other organizations that would help get some people out of that situation. He finally said, since the financial problems over the past year or two, people have been losing their jobs and homes. Making a 52% increase in people just at that specific food pantry and soup kitchen. So solving this problem just got a little harder. Perry is a very dedicated volunteer that people should listen to if they wanted an inspiration for helping. After the interview I thought on how problems like that could be changed. I am excited to come back and visit again to help out.