Part I
The main thing I focused on when doing my community service was about poverty in America. But what I really was interested about the most was what poverty causes to the people in America. So my main focus was on those two topics, but the general idea was about poverty in America, because hunger is the outcome of a person living in poverty. People who don’t suffer from this have no idea how it feels to be deprived of food.
The most recent status about poverty in America that I found was a few statistics from the site “Feeding America” and they were, “In 2008, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were in poverty. In 2008, 8.1 (10.3% percent) million families were in poverty. In 2008, 22.1 million (11.7 percent) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty. In 2008, 14 million (19 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty. In 2008, 3.6 million (9.7 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.” All of these statistics are from 2008, but they are the most recent that I know about. All of these statistics are very high and pretty scary to think about; it’s a lot of people. People need to stand up and try to bring these percentages down.
The public is very supportive of this issue. Many Food Banks allow volunteers to help out in the warehouses and package food to be distributed to non-profit organizations to try and help this problem that many people face in America. If it weren’t for the many volunteers that the Food Bank gets, this message of helping these people in America suffering from poverty and hunger would go unnoticed. The San Francisco Food Bank even said, “Three hours is all it takes for you to feed a family. You’ll help put food on the table for people who need it every time you come into our warehouse.” Volunteers are the main drive for this issue to become even slightly better. When a person volunteers at the Food Bank, the project managers constantly remind the person volunteering how thankful they are for the person helping out, they really appreciate it.
There are some people that I know who are against the idea of putting so much money into programs that help people who are suffering from poverty because they think those people should have made something with their lives like everybody else. That’s easy for them to say, but I feel that for some people school was just not easy for them because of the background they grew up in. And it also could just be that because their parents weren’t educated and that didn’t help them when it came to school work.
Part II
There are many organizations that try and help people who are in need of good, like the non-profit organization called Glide. They are the only place in the Bay Area that serves 3 meals a day, 365 days a year; their Daily Free Meals Program. I gave some of my time volunteering there, and I must say it changed my outlook on the world. I am grateful for this organization because it gives a chance for homeless people suffering from hunger a chance to have a decent meal in their day. On Glide’s website’s homepage marked “About Glide,” it basically mentions their goal, it says, “Our mission is to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.” Many non-profit organizations are trying to make a difference with this issue to help reduce it, so maybe one day they can eventually end up solving it.
The Federal Government contributes to this issue by administering the WIC program, a program that helps low-income women who are pregnant or either have a child. Their mission is to "safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.” I find this program helpful because it gives the mothers a chance to be able to go to a grocery store and get food. They receive there vouchers that have certain foods on them that they are able to get. And when they take it to the front and present it to the cashier, they get those items for free; stuff like milk, peanut butter, cheese, and other stuff that can help the infant.
The Salvation Army is another good program out there that helps people in need. They help people with food and even shelter. What the Salvation Army does; "In this new century, The Salvation Army is serving more people in the USA than ever before. We are already seeing large increases in the number of Americans seeking the basic necessities of life - food, shelter, and warmth. More than 30 million people received help from The Salvation Army in 2008, but the magnitude of the mission facing The Salvation Army in communities throughout the United States remains great.” I think this is a helpful organization because it helps people with many things that they face because of poverty. They are an organization that is proud of what they do for their community and they sure do a lot; they have helped millions of people.
About.com had a section called US Liberal Politics and I found an article from a lady named Deborah White, she said, “In January 2001, President Bush created, via Executive Order, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Since then, Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives were established at five federal agencies…And in February 2004, the President issued an Executive Order earmarking an astonishing $3.7 billion to be doled out to faith-based and other organizations.” I think this was a good thing on Bush’s part because places like churches help out people who are suffering from poverty in America. He contributed a lot of money to faith-based organizations. This was one of the best things I’ve heard that he has done that was pretty meaningful.
My community service reflects some aspects of our study this year in some way when it comes to the Health Care Bill. It is going to help some people who are struggling and in need of some assistance. The people who are poor and are suffering from poverty will be able to get care now that there is universal help for everyone. It is nice to think about because the people who are in deep need will be helped.
Part III
In order for my issue to be resolved, or at least made better, I feel that more people in America should step in and try to make a difference. More people should volunteer some of their time even just at their local food bank or any other non-profit organization that one is able to give back to their community or actually make a difference in a person’s life. I think the government should contribute some incentives towards these people that are suffering. I think more places should open up and more churches should give time to helping these people out. We live in one of the richest countries in the world; I think we should eradicate hunger. I feel that the government should put more of the money that they have towards helping people who need it, not use it to benefit their lives, because they honestly don’t need it as much as the people suffering from poverty in America do.
A few other ways this issue can be resolved are little things that people of the community can do. They can make rallies to make money to donate to the non-profit organizations; car washes can be done too. Meetings can be arranged and people can even hold a blog chat to think of ways to give back to the community. But I honestly think the best way is to volunteer at any local non-profit organization.
I volunteered my time at the Contra Costa Food Bank, the San Francisco Food Bank, and my most memorable service, at Glide. I did all of my hours with my cousins because I wanted them to experience what I was doing. Volunteering at the Food Bank, even though it was for a serious issue in America, it was a more fun experience to do with family and friends. We worked together and also had a good time talking and laughing. It is a more bonding experience even though we were helping out for a major cause. That is why I think more people should volunteer at their local food bank, they will enjoy it. At the end of the day, the person volunteering finds out by their project leader how many pounds they packaged by the end of just their 3 hour shift, and it is nice to hear how much was packaged in so little of time. And the project leader lets them know where all that food they just packaged is going, and how it is going to make a difference in the people’s lives who are suffering from poverty and hunger.
Now volunteering at the Glide made a huge impact on me. It was a non-profit organization that serves 3 meals a day. Now they have the main room for everyone, and then they have the Coffee House upstairs that only serve to handicap people and families; they get double of everything. On pancake days, which ended up being the day I volunteered on, they don’t give seconds, but any other day they do. So it was really sad to see people try and get seconds even though they knew they couldn’t, but they tried to be sneaky about it. It was sad to see them try and fight to get seconds…it really got to me. Another part that got to me was seeing this dad bring in his two kids. It is really sad to see what people have to go through, but it also made me happy to see an organization like this do what it does, and it made me feel good about myself knowing I was a part of it and that I made a difference in a person’s day. One lady that I will never forget smiled when she first walked in, and when she walked out. When she first saw us, she said “Oh good morning how are you today, today is so wonderful. Are you all well?” She was just so nice. It was incredible to see that even though she is facing poverty and hunger, she was very nice. I am definitely going to volunteer more of my time there, but just because I want to out of pure want. The people who come in to get food and the project leaders were all so nice that it has inspired me to want to volunteer there some more. It felt like everyone was just one big huge family.
Throughout my paper I have noticed that this issue sometimes gets unnoticed because not many people are doing anything about it and trying to make a difference, thus this issue doesn’t get closer to becoming solved. More people need to step in and try to make a difference. Shifts at a local Food Bank are only 3 hours, and so is volunteering at Glide; only 3 hours of a persons life that could change another person’s entire day who is suffering from poverty. It is a very good feeling, and I know, I have done it. I am going to try and influence people to start volunteering for fun. I am going to take some of my friends over to Glide to volunteer because I want my friends to see what I saw. I want them to see what people who suffer from poverty go through yet how they handle it. They are so appreciative of their lives that they put a smile on even thought they are going through so much. It is very uplifting because it makes the person volunteering look at their life differently and appreciate it more because they see how they look at their lives. I think it is very inspiring because it totally changed the way I looked at mine. I complain a lot about my life but just volunteering 3 hours of my time to help others changed the way I look at my life. I have come to appreciate it more because the fact that even though they go through all that they go through, they still appreciate theirs and try to just continue on each day. I must say they are the most inspiring people I have ever met. And I am thankful to have helped them.
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