Poverty is everywhere. It does exists even in the super power country, United States of America.
I did volunteer at
Tacoma Rescue Mission on Wednesday, January 23rd. It was a very wonderful experience to
help the disadvantage people, even tough just by serving dinner for them. I realized
that it meant a lot when I heard one of them said, “thank you guys, I
appreciate it”!
What we did was pretty much easy. Each person stood for a different
meal section and handed them when passed through. I could say it was my favorite volunteer’s activity. I
enjoyed being around those people who patiently served others, yet it was the unforgettable
moment to see various expressions closely.
Tacoma Rescue Mission prepared everything neatly and well-organized. I have seen and participated
in a couple of social mission in my home country, but this volunteer activity I
joined at Tacoma Rescue Mission gave me a new insightful experience.
In Indonesia, at least based on what I have seen and
participated in, we don’t serve ready-to-eat meals, but staples. Ready-to-eat
meals were available for only a certain occasion, like in time of disaster or
in fasting month (Ramadhan). It is not easy though to serve meals three times a
day for a number of people. What caught my attention was also the combination
of meal served; a fresh and healthy food. Tacoma rescue mission ensured
that all the nutrients needed were in meals’ package. However, people could
choose what they wanted on their plates. For kids, they got a glass of healthy
milk. How cute! There were so many people standing in the line thus we had to
make sure that the meals were enough for everybody. That was why when they
asked for more, we had to answer politely that everybody would get the same
amount.
Tacoma Rescue Mission does
a wonderful job to help the community. It provides services for
homeless, supports for people with addiction and other problems, including
hunger. I believe that it is not a work of a single person. It could happen because
people come together to help the disadvantages. The donors, workers, and
volunteers work together and commit to build a better community.
At the end, I finally got a wonderful story to share later
with people in my community. We could have one like this; a place where people
come together to help others, in my hometown. Could we?
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| standing in the line for meals |
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| we are volunteers |
