Blog #16 - Service Learning Experience

The first time I'd ever "fed the hungry" I was a sophomore in college, and I remember feeling really proud of myself as I passed out those bagged lunches on a Saturday afternoon at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando. I was helping my community. I was sharing my heart with those less fortunate. I was being the "good samaritan" that the bible counseled me to be. I was self-satisfied.

The first time I was ever on the receiving end of a soup kitchen line I remember feeling somewhat ashamed. It was a Monday evening, and after working all day long my son and I stood in line with more than sixty other women and children at a Coalition for the Homeless shelter also in downtown Orlando. We were served mashed-potatoes, pork chops, peas, apple sauce, and chocolate cake by a row of the brightest smiling faces I had ever seen outside of a television toothpaste commercial. I ate that meal with a lump in my throat and something like a rock sitting in my belly.

Although I didn't enjoy the meal very much, that was the day my eyes were really opened about how insidious hunger and poverty could be. I had a full time job, I was college educated, and I still found myself in need of help. That was also the day that I realized that helping other people should NEVER be about making yourself feeling good. A side order of condescension will spoil any meal. Trust me, I know.

My service learning project took place at Interfaith Caregivers of South Lee County, Inc (IFC). In 1991 five south Fort Myers churches joined forces to organize and empower their existing community outreach programs. They localized their resources and staffed the mission with volunteers from each congregation, became a 501c nonprofit organization, and then began fundraising and soliciting even greater donations. In 2003, IFC became a partner organization of the tri-county (Lee, Hendry, Glades) United Way. In addition to working with the United Way, whose grants make up a large portion of the annual operating budget, Interfaith is also assisted by many local groups including supermarkets, restaurants, local businesses, service clubs, and social organizations. The day to day work, however, is accomplished mainly by community volunteers some of whom are clients themselves.

The services provided by Interfaith include a food pantry, Meals on Wheels, online food stamp registration, limited financial assistance, transportation services, minor house repairs, educational classes, and free notary services. I worked mainly with the food pantry where we conducted donation check-in, marked off barcodes, checked food expiration dates, wrapped bread, stocked shelves, picked up food donations from supermarkets, and created grocery bags of food for incoming families.