On Saturday January 17th AYUDH members helped serve a morning meal to diners at the Saint Vincent de Paul Society's soup kitchen in Oakland . We arrived around 9:30 in the morning and were greeted by the smiley volunteer organizer who took us to a side room where we were shown a short, but inspiring video highlighting the importance of service and featuring the lives of a few of the regular diners. The video was a nice introduction and helped us to feel personally connected to the people we were serving. After the video, we helped set up by counting plates, carrying food, moving ice, filling a big thermos with water, etc. The workers at the soup kitchen then lead all the volunteers in a short prayer service. We then assumed our serving stations and the diners began to arrive.
Most of us were in the family room where woman, children, and men who were involved in some way with the women (husbands, boyfriends, etc) ate. One or two of us were in a more crowded room designated for single men. Some of the members of our team served the food onto trays, others cleaned the tables after the diners finished, and one of us was at the door controlling how many diners came in at a time. All of the guests we served were very friendly and enjoyed chatting and joking with us as they ate. One woman that seemed to be a regular at Saint Vincent de Paul's gave us helpful instructions us on the procedures we weren't familiar with at the soup kitchen. The atmosphere was very open and the diners were cheerful and talkative. Even though they are coping with the effects of poverty, many of the diners took the time to show their gratitude for what they were given. It was very moving to see. In addition, all of the staff at the soup kitchen were very kind and gave good, clear directions. The soup kitchen was very large and there were a number of groups volunteering there that day. We were also able to chat and make friends with the other volunteers, many of whom were high school students from surrounding areas.
We finished serving around 1 pm and after a short clean-up we were done with a fun day of service!
Most of us were in the family room where woman, children, and men who were involved in some way with the women (husbands, boyfriends, etc) ate. One or two of us were in a more crowded room designated for single men. Some of the members of our team served the food onto trays, others cleaned the tables after the diners finished, and one of us was at the door controlling how many diners came in at a time. All of the guests we served were very friendly and enjoyed chatting and joking with us as they ate. One woman that seemed to be a regular at Saint Vincent de Paul's gave us helpful instructions us on the procedures we weren't familiar with at the soup kitchen. The atmosphere was very open and the diners were cheerful and talkative. Even though they are coping with the effects of poverty, many of the diners took the time to show their gratitude for what they were given. It was very moving to see. In addition, all of the staff at the soup kitchen were very kind and gave good, clear directions. The soup kitchen was very large and there were a number of groups volunteering there that day. We were also able to chat and make friends with the other volunteers, many of whom were high school students from surrounding areas.
We finished serving around 1 pm and after a short clean-up we were done with a fun day of service!
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