Story

This past Saturday I participated in JUMP's Help for the Homeless service project and it was an experience that I will never forget. This experience was eye opening for me especially because I'm from the Orlando area. Seeing people starving and having no place to live was difficult, sure I knew that there were people in downtown Orlando without homes or food to eat but I never realized how hard their lives are or how they are just like "us".

When I thought about waking up at 7 am on a Saturday I wasn't excited about it, but I woke up anyway because I wanted to experience first hand what feeding the homeless would really be like. I thought that there would be maybe 10 to 15 people who would show up for breakfast. I was completely wrong. There were over 175 people who came for food. But the number of hungry people wasn't the most shocking part, it was the stories these people shared. A lot of the people I talked to served in the U.S. Army. One man told me a story of how he wanted to join the army but he wouldn't be able to do so because of his mental state. Another man told me how he served in the army and was honorably discharged for medical reasons but he (like many others) is now having to live on the street. The hardest thing for me to see though was this one mother and her young boys. I can't even imagine what it must be like to not have money to feed your children let alone yourself.

I was very touched by many of the people I talked to. They weren't filthy outcasts of society like I was brought up to believe, they were gracious and kind hearted. After another Rollins student and I had passed out plastic bags for people to carry food in, one lady came over to us and asked if she could just give us a hug. She was so thankful that we were doing this for our community and she repeatedly said "God bless you." This made me realize that these people were part of OUR community. I never hear anyone going out of the gated community where I live to feed the homeless. Granted many of my neighbors give huge amounts to local charities, but to me it's the hands on work that really makes the impact. Seeing other Rollins students and even a faculty member come out was really touching. This experience not only opened my eyes, but it also changed how I viewed service. After feeding the homeless and feeling like I made a small impact, I now want to continue helping in the community. I think it's very important for everyone in our community to get involved and to realize that we can't take things for granted. As Father Greg Boyle said, "kinship declares that there is no them it's just us." We must remember to try to the best of our ability to have a community of kinship and this starts with making a small difference like feeding the hungry.

The Office of Community Engagement

Service-Learning Stories