For my civic engagement, I performed service for the homeless with my family. When I knew that I had to select and do a service project, I didn't want to just go in an go out, with nothing to show for it other than an "experience" for a final paper. I wanted to do something that I felt made a difference, and something that I could make in to a tradition with my family that teaches my younger siblings and my own son about what they have, and what others do not. My family owns an up and coming food truck called Inferno Wood Fired Pizza. We work with the food truck league that does things like this on a regular basis, so we questioned them for some ideas and helpful tips. We had catered a wedding, and still had about 100 left over balls of dough and ingredients, and I spoke with my father and we agreed that going downtown and cooking pizzas for the homeless with what we had left over would be a good idea. We did not really know where to go park that would be the most productive, but we drove around downtown, and right behind the gateway shopping center seemed to be where quite bit of homeless people cumulate, especially along that road. So we got a permit for it, and we cooked pizza for about 4 hours for whomever needed a hot meal. The date was December 9th at 5PM and we cleaned up around 9PM.
The topic that I chose to center my civic engagement around was the individual and society. It goes back to the analogy that a single stick on its own is weak and can be broken easily, but when you bundle them together they become something much different, and they become harder to break. They are lifted, and supported by the other sticks around them and gain the strength needed to resist breaking. This is also very true for our own society, and individuals. As individuals, we can only be so strong or do so much. We are very much limited. When we combine our efforts with those around us, we are able to do and become so much more than we normally would individually. This directly shines on to the homeless and needy in our society. On their own, they don't have much but if we were to wrap ourselves and our efforts around these people, and give them the support and love that they need, they then can have the opportunity to become a contributing member of our society's rather than being on the receiving end.
I feel my participation in this activity made me more aware of those in need in our community. For my whole life, I've grown up knowing people are need. From my mom telling me to eat all of my dinner because there are starving kids in Africa, to seeing the people on the freeway holding their signs for assistance, but in my mind I always assumed they were looking for handouts. I've always felt that If you want money, you need to work for it like I do. When I was doing this activity I realized that most of these poor individuals are not on the streets by choice. They are actually mostly disabled, and I think that as a community we need wrap ourselves around those less fortunate than us and help to uplift and support them.Its encouraged me and instilled a faith in me to contribute to the welfare of those that I can help. This helps me exercise my freedom to help those that need me, and allows me to contribute to their freedoms as well. They have access to all the same freedoms we do in a sense, but are unable to exercise them fully. That does not mean they are any less deserving of the liberties that we all enjoy.
I really did enjoy this activity. What it did was promote self awareness for myself about the people in need around me. It softened my heart to those that need a little humanity in their lives.
I would definitely do this again, and I actually plan on doing it every time that we have extra supplies from my dads business. What better way to spend our time, and resources that are just going to go bad then to assist those that need it. I feel that I have become more aware of the society that I live in, and ways that I can help. If we were to all help in small ways, it would make a big difference in the world that we live in. There is a lot of humanity and good in the world, and it is unfortunate that is not what the spotlight is on in our every day lives. A little encouragement in the world can go a long way. I am grateful for what this assignment opened my eyes up to and it has bettered not only mine, and those we assisted lives, but my family as well. I am glad that I included them to help promote their awareness as well. It has touched all of our lives.