"HUNGER"

This blog site has been set up as a journal for the service learning project I am participating in. The service learning site that I have chosen is called the "Everett Community Meal Program." I am assisting other volunteers prepare and serve dinner to families with young children, the homeless and the disabled, we do this at the First Babtist Church in downtown Everett. The population I am serving is diverse with all ethnic races being present as the common theme of a very low socio-economic status is shared by all. The age group is also very diverse since hunger has no age limit. The one noticable exception I have observed is gender, men out number the women 3 to 1, why this is I am not certain?
So far I have volunteered once and was very taken by the experience. I arrived around 4:30 p.m. to help in the preparation of the dinner. I was greeted by the coordinator "Chris", a very down to earth, highly organized, sweet lady in her 40's. She introduced me to the other volunteers. Like the population we served they too were incredibly diverse. For instance their was "Mark"" whose job was to greet people as they came in, he himself is disabled and calls himself a miracle, he then goes on to tell you how he was in a terrible car accident, then a coma, then had to re-learn everything from walking to talking. The heart warming smile on his face as he tells his ordeal and how he's not giving up on himself or anyone else makes him absolutly perfect for the greeter job. Then there is "Eve' whose job is to pass out sandwiches and fruit on the food trayline. She is a beautiful grandmotherly type black woman who is 78 years old. You would never know she is 78, her mind is quick, her body is holding steady, as she passes out each sandwich she says "God bless you". Then there is the two volunteers in the dishroom, unfortunatly I can't remember their names. I was sure impressed by them, they scrubbed up every pot and pan, and kept the kitchen as neat as a pin all with a smile on their faces that never left.
The things that bothered me the most are the large number of children and teenagers I served, and also that the majority of older adults I served had rotten or no teeth, and you cannot help but to smell the foul odor of homelessness, poverty truly is cruel. What I hope to learn from this experience is how I can contribute in meeting the needs of others less fortunate.