We started off the day with a group breakfast before our day of service. We are so happy to see how close our trip is getting and are amazed at the things we have accomplished in just one day.
Our service day started at the LowCountry Food Bank. In our orientation, we learned one in four children and one in two elderly Charleston citizens go to sleep hungry. We also learned the Food Bank is able to stretch $1 into six meals with a 96.5% efficiency rate. While serving, our group was split into two. Both groups had the focus of extending shelf life for damaged goods. One group packaged Nabisco cookies and crackers. A special shout out goes to Kalen, who has excellent packing skills! The second group sorted through fruit cups and stocked a pallet of them.
After making lunch at the church, we went to WINGS. The afternoon started there with the sounds of "Hey, can I give you some praise?" or "I really liked the way you gave me support when you … " or "You were really kind and caring when you did … for me". It was really positive to see children interacting with each other in this way. We spent today focusing on serving, not helping, and this principle applied at WINGS when remembering that these kids can teach us just as much as we can teach them. Everyone we interacted with is sharing so much with us and all of us will leave positively changed. The power of little actions is truly amazing. It was also nice to be referred to as Mr. and Miss because it really showed respect to us. While the children were not always the nicest to each other, it opened all of our eyes to the implications homelessness and poverty have. Lacking structure from a stable family life and schools that do not teach social skills or how to handle emotions exacerbate the issues. The children also loved male role models and seemed to listen to men more, which shows there is a need for more males to get involved and be active within the community. WINGS stands for such good principles and we are honored to be helping.
We definitely see a need for our help here and the effects of homelessness and poverty are long lasting.
For more up-to-the-moment information about our trip, please follow us on Twitter @ASB_Charleston1.
ASBLove,
Charleston 1
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