Sophia Clemmer

The Rescue Mission

Earlier this month, I went with the HVHS Key Club to the Rescue Mission, where I was exposed to many people less fortunate than I am. We all know these ways of living exist, but we never actually take time to stop and think about them until we witness them first-hand. It all became reality to me when I handed dinner to people that I had seen prior to this day begging for money on the side of the road. The unfortunate situation of these people seemed much more existent when I was up close to them, serving the only dinner available for them that day.

I went into the experience with just about accurate expectations as to what I would be helping with while there. We first arrived at the church and signed in. We then washed our hands, tied up our hair, and put on gloves to begin handling the food. Other volunteers were there as well, so we worked with them to help prepare the meal and set up. While it was being cooked, all of us worked to put many different types of desserts onto small plates to be handed out later.

“Where do all these desserts come from?” asked my friend Hannah, clearly confused due to the plethora of untouched desserts that we had to serve.

 “They’re old and stale to the point where grocery stores can no longer sell them, so they’ve been donated here.” Replied Ms. Brown as she continued assigning each desert to its own plate.

Once we were finished, we went back into the main kitchen area and prepared for three shifts of hungry people to come through; single women, single men, and families. The volunteers chose which food they wanted to hand out, and my friend Hannah and I chose to be on salad and fruit duty, which came first in the line.

As the first shift of single women came through, we asked them if they would like salad or fruit. Some said yes, so we handed them the food, and others passed. They then continued down the crowded line as the other volunteers offered them different foods until they reached the end where they could then go into the main dining room and sit down to eat. This process continued throughout all three of the shifts, with about fifteen minute breaks in between each one.

What I was not expecting, was the amount that this affected me emotionally. Seeing all of the people come through to receive their meal was difficult. Some didn’t have teeth, and had trouble communicating properly. Others of them masked in bruises, most of which being women. The worst part was that the largest shift of people to come through were the families. The children were mostly young and walked down the line with their parents, clueless as to why they were receiving their dinner there. Despite the melancholy vibes in the environment, I shared as many smiles and compliments as I could. Half of the people responded with a shy smile and thanks, avoiding eye contact. Another half replied with a big “Awe thank you!” which definitely made me happy to hear.

After handing out dinner to all of the three shifts, the volunteers helped to clean up and put away tables and chairs. There were several large dining rooms filled with tables, one was clear of people and the other still had a few sitting and talking. We started by folding up all of the tables and chairs and stacking them against the wall. I was sad to see the amount of wasted food that had just been left on the floor, especially when these people are in dire need of it. We swept it all up and then moved into the next dining room, where there was still a group of about eight people sitting and talking. We swept and folded up tables and chairs around them, leaving them with what they needed to continue socializing. The group eventually began to leave one by one, making more chairs available for us to fold up and more flooring for us to sweep.

After getting lots of work done, a man that worked for the Rescue Mission offered Hannah and me a piece of angel food cake, which was one of the desserts that had been donated from a grocery store. The cake was as stale as styrofoam, and tasted that way too.

At this point in my time spent at the Rescue Mission, I was feeling very sad and sorry for the people I had met that day. I felt as if they were unhappy and unhopeful. These feelings were proven wrong when one of the last people to leave the group walked up to us, and with a big smile, sincerely thanked us for what we had done to help them out.

“We really appreciate you all.” He told us. He was a very happy and positive man, and he spread positive vibes all around the room. In that moment, I realized that even when you’re stuck in what seems to be an unfortunate and sad situation, you are still capable of being happy and spreading positive vibes to everyone around you. From this amazing experience, one person that really demonstrated how happiness is a choice, and I know I’ve definitely chosen it.