Hunger,+Housing,+Homelessness

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Lancaster Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore: Gavin Mortensen
I worked at the ReStore. I would recommend that you go to the main Habitat for Humanity website @ [|www.Habitat.org] and click on the volunteer coordinator tab to find a location that is close to your home. I worked at the Lancaster, PA Habaitat location because it was close to my house, but this will be out of the way for anyone else going to Westtown. I stacked bricks and organized donated items, I interacted with people who came in to the ReStore and made things look organizaed on the selling floor so that items could then be used in the building of a house for the 2 needy families that were selected. I was too young to actually work on the home site, which I would have preferred. What I liked most about the assignment was that I got to work with some interesting people who wanted to help poor people have a place to live. I am glad an organization like this exists for those families that are less fortunate and I really hope that in the future Habitat will have more money so they can build more than 1 house at a time. I look forward to working for Habitat for Humanity again when I am 16 --so I can work on an actual home site and meet the families I am trying to help and work along side of them to build their new home.

==Philabundance food pantry:Emma Motel == I worked at a Philabundance food pantry in Philadelphia. You can email them at lsalter@philabundance.org or you can call 215-229-2221. If you wish to fill out a survey to become a new volunteer the link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CFCVolunteerSurvey. They can be found at 601 West Lehigh Avenue Philadelphia, PA. Some advice that I would give to future eight graders is to get there on time and not to judge anyone that comes in. Also you might want to be a bit of a fast learner depending on what you are doing. Volunteers can hand out baskets at the front when people come in. If you know spanish it really helps because then you will be able to tell people were things are, or ask them how their day was. You can work at the register and count how many items people have. You can pack up people's groceries. You can simply stand around and help people find things from meat to yogurt to canned goods.

== The first place I worked at was the Chester County Food Bank which i found to be less fulfilling for my project. You can calI them at 610-873-6000. They can be found at 1208 Horseshoe Pike (RT 322), Downingtown, PA 19335. I organized donated canned goods nd packed emergency boxes. Some advice is that they have many volunteers so make sure you come early so you are given a job. ==

Service Journal Entry: Chester County Food Bank
== I found many boxes that were filled with food that weren’t useful at all. When I was packing the “e-boxes” myself I thought of the families that were going to have to feed their children. Whenever I packed the “e-boxes” I thought about the kids and what they thought when their school nurse gave them food for their family. == == I also worked in the Media Food Bank in Media. you can email them head organizer Paul Mickel at paulmickel@msn.com or you can call 610-529-6733. All you have to do is call them and they will talk to you about possible service hours. I found the best times were on Thursday nights from 7-8 and Saturday mornings from 10-11. They can be found on 350 West State Street Media PA 19063. I would tell future eight graders to get here early so they can get more service hours in i went from 6-8 because they always need help setting up. Also, that there are many different clients that get food there and that you shouldn't look down on them or judge them at all because they are wonderful people. == == I stacked shelves, gave food boxes to clients, organized clothes, and packed food bags. This is a good thing to do because not only do you know who it is going to but you get to connect with your community more allowing you to meet new people you never would have before. ==

Service Journal Entry:
== One thing I like a lot about this program is that I get to talk with the people that are actually using the food. It is always sad to see mothers come in and ask for formula because there is only a small shelf with donated items. I can’t imagine what it is like to have a family and struggle in the process of trying to feed them. Going to the Thursday night services have really allowed me to meet people I never would have if I didn’t do this project. This project has opened my eyes and shown how fortunate I am to afford food and to have my entire family well fed. Meeting the clients that come here introduced me to a whole new view. The clients are true inspirations on how to keep moving forward in life. ==

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= =**Celia Sommer 2011- 2012**=

==I worked at the Chester County Food Bank. OVer the summer I picked tomatoes and corn in the fields at Pete's Produce and during the fall I worked in the warehouse at the food bank. If you don't like to get down and dirty I would not recomend gleaning, but personally I enjoyed. I really liked my service project because you are helping the hungry get food. After a group of people picked tomatoes or corn the person in charge would drive the food to local food banks in West Chester. It is a great feeling to know that you are helping people in need. The address to the Chester County Food Bank is 1208 Horseshoe Pike (Route 322), Downingtown, PA 19335. You can contact them at 610- 873- 600. Some advice I would give to anyone who is interested in working with the Chest County Food Bank is to start volunteering over the summer because starting in the fall you can only help in the warehouse and only once a week.==

=**Service Journal Entry:**=

==I just finished all of my service hours yesterday. It was a great experience to be able to do different kinds of work. I had never done service work out in the fields picking tomatoes. It was different and cool. Doing all of the work I made a significant impact on peoples lives. The Chester County Food Bank provides food for the needy and I helped do that. I enjoyed working with the Chester County Food Bank and I will continue to work with them as long as I can. Doing this service project changed the way I look at things. It feels great to know that I helped people for the better.==

=**Here are some pictures of me gleaning:**=



=By: Colin Perkins-Taylor=

School Year: 2011-2012

 * __Name/Location__-**I worked at the Life Center of Eastern Delaware County, which is located in the same place.


 * __How To Contact__**-my contact was Will Starr who I knew through Swarthmore Friends Meeting. Him and I talked on a Sunday during meeting and arranged for me to help cook and deliver.


 * __What I Did__**-for my service project I cooked food for the homeless, and then served it to them as well. On Saturday mornings I would go to the Swarthmore Friends Meeting to make sandwiches and cook pasta. Then on the same Saturday night I would meet with a few other people and drive to the homeless shelter where I would then serve food to the homeless people there. It was a good thing to do because this is one of the only ways these people get food, so it was very important to them and they were all very grateful for it. My favorite part was hearing all of the people say thank you to me for serving them food.


 * __Journal Entry__**- It is Saturday August 20th, 2011 and I have just returned from my first feeding the homeless session for my 8th grade service project. I found my first trip quite enjoyable. My job tonight was to continuously fill up cups of pasta for about 120 people who could keep coming back for 2nd and 3rd helpings if they wanted. While this task proved hard because I was constantly running low it was worthwhile because of the people who kept saying thank you to me. One man in particular stood out to me because he came back about three times and every time he would say “Can I have some more of your delicious pasta, young man?” That was probably the best part of my first trip to feed the homeless.


 * __Advice__**-the most important advice for me to give about this project is that if you are going to do it you really need to clear your schedule for one day. My meeting goes once a month to the homeless shelter so if you miss one serving it can be hard to make up for the hours, so you really just need to make sure you have nothing planned for that day. However, doing one or two sessions in the summer is really helpful because it becomes much easier for the hours. Once you get into it and know what you are doing after a session or two it becomes a very fun activity!

Keith Franklin

Jack and Jill of America

In Jack and Jill I packed boxes with towels, dish soap, bowls, detergent, silver ware, target gift card and other miscellaneous items for a homeless shelter. It was remarkable how quickly the hours went by with all the people there. There were about sixteen kids ages from thirteen to eighteen and about 100 supplies and it took only about 4 hours to pack all the boxes. There should be more people in the community helping because this can really make a difference. I learned that common house hold items to me are very important to people less fortunate. I would probably do other church community service since my family is always trying to help the community. This was a rewarding because I got to spend some time with my friends and also know that I’m doing something for someone else.  //**Chester County Chapter**// //** PO Box 2268 **// //** Frazer, PA 19355 **// //** 610.368.3186 **//

