Today we started the day off by having our normal classes until 9:00 am. When it was time to go to the Apostles Church we got our stuff and headed to the train. We took the A, I think to 23rd street and then walked to 25th and 9th ave. When we found the building we walked to the building and it was hard to find the entrance because there were three different doors. By the time we got to the church we started to see that many people started to line up to get lunch. As we were looking for the entrance a man told us that we were going the wrong and directed us to the right entrance. When we got in we were met by Bob who told us we had to sign our names on a piece of paper so they could know how many people were there and who got what job. After we signed in we handed the sheet back to Bob and then another man showed us where we could leave our jackets and our backpacks. I remember when I first walked inside there I felt a little nervous because it was such a big place and it seemed like all the people around me seemed like they knew the drill. When we were done putting our stuff away we were met by Brooke who we talked to on the phone to arrange this fieldwork. She introduced us to how it was going to work and told us that if we needed anything we could find her or her assistant. After she gave us a brief description of what the church does and how it works she took us to a table to get our gloves, hat and apron.

Just to give you a little background information about the church. So they serve lunch from 10:30 to 1:30. And anybody can come, you don’t need to be registered to come. And if you want to get a second serving you usually have to wait after 12:30 to be able to go up and get more food because they want to make sure that for those who haven’t gotten food yet, can. In general most of the same people come each week to be fed, so the staff knows them. When it was finally time to get our jobs I was assigned to work at tables 16 and later on 10 and 11, Brandon had table 15, Lola had table 6 and Sophia had the job of wrapping silverware into napkins. For Lola, Brandon and I, we got a tutorial on how to do the tables. Our job was to take a rag and wipe down the tables, so that the next person who comes can feel welcomed to their spot. Also if they need more milk, sugar, salt, pepper or water we had to get them a new pitcher or shaker. When I started to see people coming to my table I was sort of nervous because I was afraid about messing up, or getting someone angry. The reason I was afraid that I would mess up was because I do a soup kitchen at my church and they do it differently and I was afraid that I would mess up and I would get in trouble. As time went along I started to get used to how my job worked and I started to enjoy doing it because I like helping and I felt like by doing this I was making a small difference by feeding those who aren’t able to afford a meal. When things started to whined down we helped clean up the chairs and tables by spraying and drying the chairs and tables and then stacking the chairs on top of the table. After we finished doing that job we said thank you for letting us attend and we got our stuff and started to go back to school.

As we were taking the train back to school with my group I was thinking about how we helped those in need of a meal and how by doing that we started to make a difference. This was a great experience for me because I got to see what a soup kitchen was like in a different church and what is different from the way my church does it and how they do it. Every time I help at my church every month the second week, I always go home feeling good and glad that I can go out and help others, other than those around me. I really hope my group can go to another soup kitchen because it is a lot of fun the more you do it and you feel good by the time you leave.