My Experience

Julian Moncada
12/2/10

My Experiences

During my time doing this community service project I had a lot of fun and also

met some very nice people. For my project I decided to volunteer down at the Andre

House. At first I was a little nervous to go to downtown Phoenix because prior to that all

of my community service had taken place in Anthem. Luckily, some of my friends were

there volunteering also so I had a great time. When we first arrived there I met the leader

of Andre House whose name was Father Eric. He was a really nice man and was really

excited that we were volunteering. I also met a bunch of people that volunteered on a

regular basis too. I felt kind of embarrassed and selfish knowing that these other

volunteers give up their entire weekend to help out and I rarely volunteer anywhere.

However, I am proud to say that I spent one of my many Saturday mornings helping

organize clothes for the homeless people. I felt good knowing that someone who didn’t

have a jacket to wear, or shoes that didn’t fit them could finally get the comfort that they

needed. There was so much donated stuff there at the shelter that it kind of amazed me.

Not even all the stuff there was used either, some of it looked brand new! This caused me

to think of what I could possibly donate that I didn’t use anymore.

My next trip down to the Andre House was on Thanksgiving day. I was kind of

bummed that I couldn’t spend the full holiday with my family but I knew that I was doing

the right thing by helping serve a thanksgiving meal to people that probably haven’t seen

their family in years. As soon as I got there a couple friends and I started peeling the skin
off of the turkey to be used in the turkey soup. Then as dinner time approached, the

volunteer coordinator had us separate into different stations. Me and my friend helped

take peoples treys once they were done eating. As the long lines of people began to

shorten I got the chance to see them enjoying there meal. Just the looks on their faces

made me feel good. I saw some of the people out on the street from earlier eating with

their friends and I knew that this was probably the only meal that they have had all day.

As the feast began to unwind, we started washing the dishes and cleaning the tables. I

called it a day and felt great knowing that everyone there got to eat a good meal.

I believe that by volunteering at the Andre House I impacted society in a positive

way. Many of the homeless people that I served on Thanksgiving took the time to say

thank you. In fact, most of the people, after they finished eating, said that they really

appreciated what I was doing. Just their gratitude alone was enough for me to see how a

little volunteering can go a long way. The society was helped because all of the clothes,

shoes, and the accessories that I helped organize went directly to the homeless people or

the other local charity St. Vincent DePaul. And with the mass of volunteers available and

donations received, I can only imagine how many people have been helped and gotten

their needs met. During my time serving the Thanksgiving dinner, I saw at least 10 people

wearing some of the jackets that I helped sort the previous time I visited. But in the end it

was not about who got the best jackets or shoes first, it was about everyone getting

something. This whole project may have been just for school but it definitely inspired me

to volunteer more not only in my local area but also in places like downtown Phoenix

where you can really see what homeless looks like. I am grateful that I got the chance to

help out my community as well as society itself and I will definitely look forward to spending more time at the Andre House.