[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text letter_spacing=””]Today we spent our time volunteering at Focus: HOPE. We started off with a tour followed by an orientation. We then delivered food to senior citizens and worked in their warehouse.
When delivering food, we were able to see the impact that the food boxes make. At one apartment, I noticed that there were multiple generations living together in the apartment that all relied on their grandmother/mom’s food box. Focus: HOPE provides many services and programs to better the community. From job training to the day care, they put in effort to make accommodations to better serve the community.
One man in particular stood out to me. We knocked on his door multiple times and were about to give up when we saw him coming around the side of the house. He immediately greeted us with a warm smile. We soon realized that the man was blind. After taking a few photos with us, he welcomed us into his home and asked us to look and tell him what was in his food box this month. We helped him sort through the box and put things in his fridge. While listening to his stories, I couldn’t help but notice how self-sufficient he was. Even though he could not see, he still had hope and courage and pushed through. He found ways to work around his disability.
It is from this example that I better understood the importance of hope. In times of strife or in the midst of a challenge, we must have hope. Our hopefulness could inspire others to follow us in our courage and inspire others to have hope as well. With a hopeful heart and open mind, anything can be accomplished.
The man had hope and inspired me and my group to have hope. It is through lessons and experiences like these that this trip will be able to better shape us as individuals. – Mary Grace
We spent our afternoon at Focus: HOPE “cutting stock”—unwrapping and stacking cases of canned food. Focus: HOPE gets lots of canned food in wrapped packages from USDA, and the cans first need to be unwrapped so they can then be sorted and packed into boxes for the seniors.
After a busy morning consisting of a tour, an orientation, and deliveries, the purely physical task of “cutting stock” allowed my mind to relax and wander. Eventually, I started to realize that the cans of food I was unwrapping would go to senior citizens who would truly need the food. Tomorrow we will pack these cans into boxes for the seniors, and these boxes of food will be some of the only food they will get this month. I became aware of the fact that we were helping feed those truly in need. This awareness was eye-opening. These people were dependent on Focus: HOPE simply to feed themselves, something that for us is so commonly taken for granted. – Nicholas
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