The superb,
glamorous, and @®†$¥ (artsy) Black Team, on the other hand, had a long bus ride
to Brookland (we go hard). We served at the Capital Area Food Bank. After our
quick shuttle ride from the bus stop, we arrived eager to sort cans and make a
difference in peoples’ lives, but much to our dismay, we did not have the
proper forms to go back into the heavy lifting area.
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The task for the day prior to the arrival of our waivers. |
Eventually, after a
building tour, we were able to work in the back room.*
We were amazed to learn
that they packaged and sorted over 33 million pounds of goods per year! There, we unloaded many Chiquita Banana boxes (bananas not included) full of
anything from paper towels to flammable aerosol cans to Hamburger Helper. We
sorted these various items, donated by stores such as Walmart, Whole Foods, and
Safeway. For the most part, these goods were not quite shelf-worthy at these
superstores, but were still usable. After sorting for a few hours, we realized
that somebody (some other dude, not one
of us I promise) had accidentally put the refried and baked beans in the
wrong basket. In effect, we had to completely relocate half of the cans in that
bin, via an assembly line, which showed fabulous, impeccable, and absolutely
flawless teamwork.
Moving up from the plastic bag task! |
The fantabulous, scintillating, and intelligent Black Team
returned home, befriending a super cool nurse on the bus ride home, with whom
we discussed everything from our service project to the Redskin’s chances this
season. Working at the food bank was an extraordinarily fun experience for all
of us!! <3
After both groups had returned to the church, we deflated
most of the air mattresses in our area (by accident and on purpose), then
headed downstairs for a reflection period with Sarah, the YSOP program director
in DC. During this period, we were given the scenario of Tina Jones, a single
mother of two who is without a home or job. Using the monthly budget of $413
from the government and $485 in food stamps, we attempted to cover the basic
needs such as housing, food, clothes, transportation, and childcare. This
activity was based off of a true situation, and was an eye-opening experience
for all of us. It made the issues that people experiencing homelessness face
much more real to us, and made us appreciate all of the blessings that we have.
Struggling with tough decisions.
After the activity, we hit the Mall (not the shopping type).
We toured the Smithsonian museums located on the National Mall
for a few hours. Some of our favorites were the Air and Space Museum, the
American History Museum, and the National Art Museum. We then headed to We the Pizza, and enjoyed a delicious meal of pizza pies.
After dinner we hopped
aboard the metro and took tons of artsy pictures of the floor and CJ’s
nosebleeds (#CJprobz).
We got off the metro and witnessed Jack’s cray cray parkour skillz, swinging from tree to tree, a true modern-day Tarzan.
When John tried to awesomely do some swagalicious moves, he got stuck on a twenty-foot barbed wire laced wall and had to run a block in the opposite direction to get off of it.
This time our destination was the other end of the mall where we visited the Lincoln Memorial, took lots of pictures, and moved on to visit a few other memorials, such as the Vietnam War Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and the Washington Monument.
Somehow, two of us (who shall remain nameless) managed to miss the giant, pencil-like obelisk (our meeting place) visible from all over DC and were MIA for a good ten minutes. However, the group was reunited and we began the trek back to the church. On the way home, we met a nice, friendly, and heartwarming homeless man sitting on the steps of the church. We all said hi and gave him a wave, and he popped up and started talking to us. He said he was very grateful that we were not scared of him and that we treated him with respect. That made us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and made us realize the impact of a simple hello to a member of the homeless community. He then told us that he was two months HIV positive, but 785 days clean of alcohol and heroin, which is an impressive feat for a former addict. He advertised a fundraiser for a homeless shelter, to which a few of us gave a few dollars. We said goodbye and turned to go, but he stopped us because John had dropped his “beautiful” smile. It was a fun-filled day for all of us, yay!
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Sarah provides some insight. |
After the activity, we hit the Mall (not the shopping type).
Taking on the city. We tend to forget that others might be using the sidewalk too ...nothing that a short discussion on "side-walk etiquette" couldn't resolve! |
Yum yum!!! |
We got off the metro and witnessed Jack’s cray cray parkour skillz, swinging from tree to tree, a true modern-day Tarzan.
When John tried to awesomely do some swagalicious moves, he got stuck on a twenty-foot barbed wire laced wall and had to run a block in the opposite direction to get off of it.
This time our destination was the other end of the mall where we visited the Lincoln Memorial, took lots of pictures, and moved on to visit a few other memorials, such as the Vietnam War Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and the Washington Monument.
Somehow, two of us (who shall remain nameless) managed to miss the giant, pencil-like obelisk (our meeting place) visible from all over DC and were MIA for a good ten minutes. However, the group was reunited and we began the trek back to the church. On the way home, we met a nice, friendly, and heartwarming homeless man sitting on the steps of the church. We all said hi and gave him a wave, and he popped up and started talking to us. He said he was very grateful that we were not scared of him and that we treated him with respect. That made us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and made us realize the impact of a simple hello to a member of the homeless community. He then told us that he was two months HIV positive, but 785 days clean of alcohol and heroin, which is an impressive feat for a former addict. He advertised a fundraiser for a homeless shelter, to which a few of us gave a few dollars. We said goodbye and turned to go, but he stopped us because John had dropped his “beautiful” smile. It was a fun-filled day for all of us, yay!
*A special thanks to our parents today. YSOP had not been informed that Capital Area Food Bank had changed their requirements for youth service. My signature as a "guardian" was not accepted and all our parents were quick to download a form and fax, email or take a picture of the form and send it to the volunteer coordinator thus allowing our kids to have a meaningful service experience. Thank you so much!! Karen
By Aven, Peyton, and Ellie <3 #YOLO #SWAG
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