Coming back from Chicago

Spring break. A whole week of being able to turn my brain off. Seven consecutive days where I could finally relax. This is something that I personally look forward to for the entire school year- and I have ever since kindergarden. This time around, I am proud and extremely thankful that I get to say that I have never been so mentally, physically, and emotionally engaged for an entire week of my life. Spring break this year is something that I am never going to be able to duplicate. Getting the chance to participate in such a meaningful mission and meeting so many compassionate people has changed my life.

This week was all about the mission of combating hunger, food insecurity, and homelessness in an area where it is of great importance- Chicago. I was able to get a more clear and concise vision of how these issues need to be addressed on a larger scale, and how I can make a difference. I need to be the change that I want to see in the world. I need to take the first step to inspire others to help. I need to be the one to help others redefine their definitions of what it is to be in poverty. I need to take the step and I need to make sure it is large enough so that others can follow along with me.

A group of fifteen MSU students set out to see Chicago, maybe meet some new people, try and help a little and make a difference. What happened was much more; this same group of fifteen people became a family and challenged each other to redefine how you look at poverty. We encouraged and rallied around each other. We questioned and pushed the boundaries. After every service, we were able to come together to process and understand the full weight of what they had just done. We were doing so much more than serving, packaging, organizing food- we were empowering, understanding, and connecting with people who desperately needed it. This group of people helped bring me to the realization that I had been so naive and in the dark about the issue. Hunger is real for millions in this country. Many don’t know where they will be able to get their next meal. People fall on hard times and it is not up to me to judge them. It is up to me to look to myself and see how I can lend them a hand to be able to stand tall again.

It is easy to see someone on the street and blame them for their place there. It is easy to look at someone who is in need of help and think that they first need to help themselves. This trip has taught me that what I need to do is to not question why they are there, but how I can help to make sure that they don’t stay there. How can I make a difference for that person? 

- Can I start a conversation with them and show a genuine interest?

- Can I give them some leftovers from a restaurant meal I just bought?

- Can I give them a couple of dollars that I intended to spend on a latte?

These things are so minute but it is the smallest step in the process of change. I don’t know what events lead this person to this place in their life, but I can be the small step in the chain of events that puts it back on track. I can empower. I can encourage. I can understand.

It is so much more than just handing out money or a hot meal, it is reminding everyone that this is still a person. Asking for help is not something to be ashamed of or frowned upon, it is something that should be encouraged. If we cannot be there for each other during the worst times, then what is the point? We need to get down and dirty and pull these people from the trenches of hard times so that we can revel in their successes with them.

I come back from Chicago with fifteen new, wonderful, caring, genuine, compassionate friends. I come back from Chicago with a new perspective and a new purpose. I come back from Chicago with a new understanding and a desire to help others challenge their perceptions of hunger, poverty, and homelessness in America.

Kirsten Hendrick

Six Days

We can solve the issues of hunger and homelessness in this country. And it will be my generation that will do it. I have no doubt in my mind. What convinced me of this? Six days.

I spent all of my spring break in Chicago volunteering with organizations who focused on the ever growing hungry and homelessness populations in Chicago. I worked with a team of 5 Chinese students, 1 Vietnamese student, and 10 American students.

 I want to be honest to whoever may be reading this, I didn’t want to write about this trip. I didn’t think words could describe the transformative experience I went through these last six days.

I became family with the members on this trip. Nobody really knew each other before the trip; we had met twice to talk about the logistics of the trip, but that was it. We all grew up with different cultures and backgrounds and adversities, but in six days made bonds that will last a lifetime.

We learned so much from not only from each other, but from the agencies we did volunteer work for. We were challenged to ask the tough questions: Why are so many people hungry? Why are people hungry in the first place? Why are they homeless? Why is it so easy to ignore these populations? Why, in this country, can we not figure it out?

We dove into these questions all week long while serving meals to the hungry and homeless. It’s one thing to read about hunger and homelessness, but to experience it first hand with a diverse group of people is something else.

We looked at the root causes of these issues, which required more thinking than simply “They must be drug addicts, they must be lazy, they are just abusing the system.” We became educated, through direct and indirect service and research of our own.

The biggest thing we discovered was every story is different. We can’t just focus our blame on the person in need and think that is the problem. We need to blame the lack of funding we give to public schools, the lack of funding we put into social welfare programs, we need to blame us. We created this monster of hunger and homelessness by ignoring the cries of help by so many for so long.  50 million Americans rely on charitable food donations.

After all, the federal government just cut $8 billion in food stamps over the next 10 years. Why cripple our poorest friends and neighbors? The writer Aaron Sorkin once said, “If your neighbors house is on fire, do you help put out the flame or do you worry about the water bill?”

When I look at the group of people I worked with this week, I saw real change taking place. Change that will spread as the students I worked with blossom into leaders as they all go out into the real world. I just know that it will be our generation who champions our weakest citizens. Everyone needs to experience one of these trips. It took me six days to find optimism and hope in such a jaded world. Six days to become educated, inspired, and empowered with a group of students. Just six days.

--Alex Miller

A Heart for Chicago....

Who knew with a population over 7 billion people there would be one person that would forever change my outlook on the homeless? How can one respectable man who came in for a free lunch with such a bright smile lead me rushing out of the room with tears rolling down my face?

Danny was his name, everyone knew when he would come in and looked forward to it for the week. The workers and volunteers told us at the beginning we would know when he would come. Who knew the moment the door opened, I recognized the guy. Not knowing his background or anything about him, I them proceeded to greet him and help him get his food for the day. During this process we have to help each one individually, asking them what they would like and how many of each item. Some days they were allowed to take more of certain items, but other days not so much. On this day they were allowed to take a soup, one milk, one thing of carrots, as many oranges as they would like, one dessert of their choice, a granola bar, one apple, as many bananas as they would like and a sandwich. As I was taking Danny through the line to get his stuff for him he first began with taking one soup putting it in his pocket and then put another in the bag, which he took very secretively, but still I noticed. Next I proceeded to give him his milk, but every item he asked if he could have more. I had to say "no" for each item he asked because they were given a limit to make sure everyone had enough to go around. As I said, "no", he continued to ask. This was the hardest part of the service for me, seeing that someone needs something so much. It kills me to let them down. I could see that he needed it, but there was nothing I could do. As we continued down the line, I gave him the rest of his items, but towards the end I couldn't handle it anymore. One of the leaders covered my place in line because I couldn't look into someone's eyes, noticing that they are struggling and there was nothing I could do. I had tears consistently running down my face and couldn't stop, my hands were really shaky, and my heart was beating rapidly. When I finally calmed myself down, I went back up front to continue serving and Danny had left.

One thing Danny left not knowing was that he has forever made a mark on my heart. As I continue to serve others, I will always vision how he looked, what he was wearing, how he smelt and that sparkle he had in his eyes.

Volunteering at St. James Food Pantry I helped in distributing food to those in need. I was a part of a team who worked as a family in giving everything that had to provide blessing for those that are not as fortunate. We may not know the story of each person or where they came from, but that didn't put a stop to our team from treating them like they were one of us.

As I asked myself all these questions, I tend to let my mind wonder too much. I know that there will be a need to constantly help others and I know this journey our team had in Chicago is just the beginning for all of us.

"A little consideration, a little though for others makes all the difference." -Eeeyore

We are constantly on a battlefield, fighting against the small things that hold us back from what is really important. Are we challenging ourselves to help ourselves or are we trying to serve others? So many times we think so much of what we WANT for ourselves, instead of what others NEED. But if we each take a couple of minutes out of our day to say "hi", smile or even help someone in need it will make such a difference. We could be that one person who makes a mark on their life, and we could just continue on not even knowing.

I challenge everyone to take an opportunity to help a local Food Pantry and work with the homeless, and I hope that one day you will gain the same insight and get something out of it just like I did.

Lastly, I would like to say I feel so blessed to have been able to work with the Chicago Service Team, the leaders were spectacular, and the members pushed me to do great things. I know that we all made a mark here in Chicago and we will continue as a team when coming back to Springfield.

Shayla Jenkins

Hellos and Goodbyes

I’ve never enjoyed waking up early, or walking for long distances at a time, or having to make an effort to get something I needed. They’re selfish thoughts, I know, I can be a selfish person. But they’re feelings that everyone has at times. There may be a day when getting out of bed seems useless, or walking is something only people without cars do, or going to get something can be pushed back until later. I’m not the only selfish person out there that has these thoughts. There are an abundance of luxuries the common man takes advantage of daily.  

                People living on the streets don’t have a choice. They are unable to indulge. They are forced to wake up early because of harsh weather conditions, by the bustling sounds of early morning commuters, and in order to get in line for the local food pantry. They may not have a car, they may not even have a bed to wake up on, and they may not even have the heart to get to where they are going.

                As a society, a community, as humans, we don’t recognize the daily needs of others. We can’t blame ourselves, time has done this. Time has made us immune to the escalating issues. Homelessness, people who live in poverty and those with less fortunate conditions are often forgotten about. There is a silver lining. There are people, strong warriors who wield passion like a sword and shield to aid those in desperate need. 

There is Cathy and John, the coordinators from the St. James Food Pantry we volunteered for. They work tirelessly to ensure that every food item donated is sorted, inspected and distributed to the clients. We worked closely with them for two days. We got the insider’s look of how a respectable food pantry works. The amount of food that is donated and processed was a blessing to both me and them. The only problem they could face is a shortage of food. We bagged groceries, we interacted with clients that come in for a lunch program they sponsor, and we had the opportunity to look through the eyes of those who struggled. This time was hard for us. Having to witness all the people who needed help. Our group was moved by this and something stirred in us.

Let me take a moment to commend the people I’ve been with this past week. The sheer camaraderie can be seen for miles. From the get-go the chemistry amongst everyone in the group was palpable. All of our varying personalities played well off each other. We had heart, we had infectious laughs, we had ambitions, we had struggles, we had different cultures, we had wit, we had charm, we had pride, we had had love, and most of all we had the will-the will to make a difference.  

As the days quickly flown by, the group dynamic continued deepening to newer levels. We started as friends and we ended as a family.

We’re all humans. We all have hearts. They’re tender, fragile, and easily broken, but luckily for us they can be mended. We have the needle, the thread, and the tools, to seam the wounds that have been inflicted. It’s up to us to spark change, to make a difference, to light a flame.

Another thing I’ve never enjoyed is saying goodbye. Goodbye signals the end, but this isn’t the end. The end of an ongoing struggling, the end of the impenetrable bond we all fostered.

This is hello. Hello to new beginnings-the struggles we witnessed has incited us to create change. Hello change. Hello to a revolution that is greatly needed. Hello to new friendships. Hello to an evolving world. All it takes is one greeting, one simple smile and one simple welcome.

Time is a funny aspect to grasp. I truly believe that one week can change you. That the minutes, hours, days that you spend with people with different views, values, and morals can affect you. They stoke a small ember that has been generating heat for so long, turning it into a raging flame of passion.

As the laughter of my family members harmonize in the background over a rousing card game, I can’t help but remember every single amazing aspect about them. All of the inside jokes we made, the nicknames we gave each other, the pure love of volunteerism we shared, and the emotional rollercoaster of helping a food pantry we rode on. A week can change you. It can turn strangers into family members. It can turn thoughts about issues we had into movements we want to initiate to inspire change.

One of my favorite quotes is from Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” This week has proven that statement.

Change is imminent-watch for it.

Thank you for your time and patience reading this post. Dylan Becker

Danger of a Single Story... Or any stories.

For the past few nights in reflection we have been discussing "why is Sam poor?" and really diving into the complexities of our assumptions to why individuals experience hunger or homelessness. Topics have been discussed about getting to know individual stories, understanding the danger of having a single story, and removing judgments.

Tonight McKayla brought up a good point about how we remove the stigma around asking for assistance or help. It suddenly angered me. Why do we place any blame on individuals who are caught in a system of poverty. When we discussed the first night "why is Sam poor?" we provided HIS or HER reasons. HIS lack of education or HER undiagnosed learning disability. It's really the system that has failed to provide support for Sam.

How do we change the paradigm from a single story to not about the stories and instead about the system that produces these stories?

-Patrick, co-advisor

New Perspectives

Take a moment to think about your day. What struggles did you face? Did you have a bunch of homework you needed to get caught up on? Were you late to work? Did you have an argument with a friend? 

I'm sure at some point today you thought about what you were going to eat for lunch or dinner. Dine in or go out? Italian or Mexican? But did you have to wonder where your next meal would come from? Did the weight of not knowing when or where the next time you would eat weigh upon your shoulders?

For many of us, the answer to those questions would be of course not. We can go home and open our fridge. We can go out to a restaurant with a friend or run over to the dining hall to grab a quick bite. Not being able to acquire food is not a thought that runs through most of our minds, but for millions of Americans, that thought is racing through their heads constantly. 

Millions of Americans cannot tell you what the next meal they are going to eat will be. Millions of Americans cannot tell you when their next meal will be. Millions of Americans are hungry.  

I was able to witness this first hand at the St. James Food Pantry the last couple of days. St. James provides foods and services to the homeless. Every Monday through Thursday the staff and volunteers hand out a nutritious meal to anyone who needs it. This meal includes a sandwich, a drink like water or chocolate milk, a fruit and vegetable, and some sort of snack like a pudding cup or doughnut. Anyone who comes in between the open hours are able to receive this meal. Every Tuesday through Thursday, the pantry offers a service where people can pick up produce and bags of food based on their family size. They are able to pick the produce they want and then are given prepackaged bags. These bags include various goods like bread, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, crackers, etc. The staff even give the option of a sharing table where clients can leave cans they don't want and take cans they do want.

I was not able to work with clients directly like some of the members on the trip did but I was able to see them as they received their food. I was in the back prepackaging bags of food. This was a pretty stressful and face paced job. At first it was a difficult task because I kept having to look at the list to know what exactly should be put in the bag but after a couple times I had the system down: corn, greens, pasta sauce, pinto beans, black eye peas, applesauce, Mac and cheese, pasta, rice.  Over and over again I put bags together and filled in the empty table as they were given to clients. Over and over again I saw the thankfulness in clients' eyes as they were handed bags of food. Over and over again I saw the sadness and anger in clients' eyes when we told them we could not give them any extra.

As much as St. James does, they cannot do everything. There will still be people wondering when the next time they will eat will be. There are still people wondering how they are going to feed their children at the end of the month. 

"Look at us with an angry heart, anger that will help you help me," -Jo Goodwin Parker.

Shouldn't this anger us? Shouldn't the fact that our fellow Americans are suffering spark some kind of fuse inside all of us? Shouldn't we feel something for these Americans who just can't catch a break? 

When you see that homeless man standing on the corner asking for change, what do you think? What do you see? Do you see a man who just hasn't tried and is expecting others to take care of him? Or do you see a man who is down on his luck? A man who one bad thing happened to and it spiraled into him living on the streets? Do you see a man addicted to drugs or alcohol? Or do you see a man who had to drop out of high school to take care of his little sister sacrificing his dream of going to college? You do not know someone's story just from looking at them. You do not know how someone came to be in the position they are. 

You do know that your fellow Americans are suffering. Your friend, your neighbor, your classmate. 

St. James does their best to give their clients second chances. They give their clients the means to feed themselves for the end of the month. They offer nutrition classes and services to find jobs with no judgements. But they cannot do it on their own. 

If anything, I hope this has changed your perspective of the way you think of the homeless. Do not be quick to judge because you do not know their story. But I do hope this has opened your eyes. I hope you feel something within your heart; anger, compassion, discouragement, anguish and I hope it drives you to make a difference. 

"Change your thoughts and you'll change your world."

McKayla Baker

Third day to Community Thread

Today we drive one hour to the destination—Community Thread. Terry, the manager there welcomes us very warmly. We are divided into several groups. What I do is to tag clothes and then sort them according to size and finally hang them out on the rack. All the clothes are donated by others and most of them are as clean as brand new. I am surprised by the attitude people have towards other people. After hours of mechanical work, I get tired and feel little bit bored. Then I realize those long-term volunteers there, who do the same work every time like what I do today. They have already persisted for two years being volunteers there without paying and complaining, still doing excellent job. Suddenly I realize that is the real spirit of volunteer. In fact, lots of volunteer work is basic one that is not challenging and everybody is able to participate if he/she really wants to do. So one of the most important things I learn from this trip is that we should not only care others by taking active part in one-time activity of volunteer team, but love others in our daily activities. The volunteer team is to lead one to something really awesome and meaningful and help one develop its attitude towards caring and helping others.

Another vital thing that I get from this team is teamwork. At beginning of this trip, I was afraid I was not able to get involved into this team because I didn’t know any one of them well. But now I want to say that I enjoy this trip very much and we are a great team together. It is the first time that I have done meaningful things with people from different background. When I have the feeling that we are connected so closely, I just want to smile and my tears roll in the eyes.

I have got lots of foreign friends who care and help me during this trip. I love them very much. And I’d like to thank our leaders Alex and Ruiling, and Peng, Kat and Yi, who back me up all the time. Thank all of them. Thank God. Good night Chicago.

--Zimeng He

And Our Service Continues..

Today was the second day volunteering at the St. James Food Pantry. Yesterday, we got everything set up to give out groceries to people for today. This morning, until 11:30, people in need around the Chicago area came in to get food for their families or, if they did not have a family, just themselves. Each of us in the group had a different job during this time. I was a distributor, meaning that the clients brought me a small piece of paper with a number determining how many and what type of grocery bags they got. Some of these papers also contained other items that they got including diapers or dental packs for their kids. I loved getting to work with the clients one-on-one. I got to directly see what we were working for.

A reason why poverty is such an important thing for me to help with is because it hits close to home. When I was about 14 my dad lost his wife, job, home, and car within a few months. He quickly went from having his family with a secure income to having absolutely nothing. Because this was right after a rough divorce, I was not seeing my dad even though he was in Springfield. I didn’t find out for a while that he was even homeless. He avoided the topic constantly. I wish every day that I would have been able to help him during that hard time. Over the past few years my dad has been able to get himself out of poverty and has started to tell me small details about being on the streets. This helped me to relate to the clients that I got to meet today. The main thing my dad has explained is how embarrassed he was. He did not want other people to know he was homeless, especially people that he knew in Springfield. He constantly avoided asking anyone for help. Because of this, I tried to make the people that I met today as comfortable as possible and just tried to make them smile. The one struggle that I had was communication. Over 80 percent of the people that came in were Asian and spoke very little English. Even with this being, I felt very happy about everything that got done and the great amount of work that St. James Food Pantry does for their community. This Chicago trip has definitely taught me even more about the poverty that people deal with every day. It also has taught me about the importance of working together. Our group is absolutely great and we all have our part in being here with loads of different personality. I am so glad I chose to spend my spring break with these fellow bears.

-Brittany Vallez

 

 

 

 

Second Day at St. James

As Leo Tolstoy has written in Anna Karenina, all happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Before this trip, all those unhappy people and unhappy families meant nothing but those who always wandered in the streets either drinking alcohol or had already been drunk. Now that today I got an opportunity to meet the people that are suffering from poverty and homelessness, there was nothing I could regret more than of not having helped those poor people earlier in my life.

Since St. James Food Pantry is located near Chinatown, around 80% of our clients were from China.  I was at the front door greeting them and sometimes doing some translation, however, most of them did not speak Mandarin which made everything more difficult. They arrived there one hour earlier before the service started. With all the free food they wanted, some clients became crazy and the part which Yi and Cathy were in charge of became a little out of control at that time. I could tell that they got terrified whenever someone was near their food or telling them you could only have one.

I will not say they were rude. I guess poverty has changed them into who they are.

Nevertheless, as we have talked during our Reflection tonight, I met a middle-aged man today and he asked me for two numbers. I told him that one person only got one, he told me without shame that his wife was parking their car and she needed one number too. I was shocked at that moment but I was not the one to judge if they really needed the food or not. I could not turn them down.  On the contrary, an old lady who could hardly walk and a man who walked with his ankle had to walk all the way there. I could not imagine how long it would take them to walk back with all the heavy food or how difficult it would be, or I would just say that I am too afraid to even think about that.

I remember opening the door for one of the clients. He was so happy after getting his food. When I said have a good day to him, he said 'Thank you and that was a beautiful smile' to me. I saw his beautiful smile too and was so happy about what the Food Pantry has been doing for them.

We had a busy morning. I greeted 65 clients, Shayla and Yi helped 13 clients with their lunches, others of us packed hundreds of bags and tried their best to serve the clients even though they did not speak the same language. During dinner Sara said that our group seemed smaller and smaller because we were becoming closer and closer. Even though when Alex wanted to high-five with me the other day I stared at him wondering why he called my name, we feel all the same when we help with people and care about them without any culture barrier.

I remember yesterday when Alex said 'we are like a family now' and I was like, come on Alex, we already are.

-----------------------------Kat (Qianru Huang)

My Response to Poverty

Today was our first real day of serving in Chicago! We spent almost eight hours volunteering at the St. James Food Pantry. After our arrival, Kathy (one of the staff members), shared with us what the pantry does for the community. They serve over 1,500 people in two zip codes, have food delivery for the elderly, provide lunch service for those in need, and so much more. They do all of this with a very small staff and the support of many dedicated donors and volunteers. What is so great about this organization is their focus on empowerment. Not only do they meet the immediate needs of the population, but they also equip their clients for the future. Their ultimate goal is for the clients to not just get a bag of food and walk away, but for them to one day be self-sufficient.

I was so impressed by the amount of love and respect shown by the folks at St. James to the population they serve which is a group others so easily write off. I am by no means saying this from my high horse. When I reflect on my former perceptions of poverty and the homelessness, I don't like what I see.

I grew up in Wildwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis about 40 minutes west of the city. My area is often considered the rich, snooty part of the county. From my experience, this is true. I mean, look at this meme I came across on Facebook last week. This is the area I call home:

I laughed because honestly, it's true for the most part. The amount of entitled teenagers in my area is wayyy more than slightly above the national average, if there was a study for that type of thing. I just now looked up some actual statistics for Wildwood, or "Wildhood" as some ironically refer to it. There's literally nothing "hood" about it, just in case you're curious.

Median Household Income:
Wildwood: $120,507
Missouri: $47,333

Residents with income below the poverty level in 2009:
Wildwood: 4.1%
Missouri: 19.2% 

To say that I didn't grow up witnessing poverty would be an understatement. It was this abstract thing that affected people not like me. Unless I went to downtown St. Louis, I never saw a homeless person. Those times I would see someone homeless, I was legitimately afraid. I had assumed they must be crazy and want to hurt me. There were times I would catch myself thinking that they don't deserve the extra dollar in my pocket because they weren't doing anything to change their situation. 

As I got older, I began to realize poverty was much more complex than that. These homeless people that I so quickly determined weren't good enough for my dollar, weren't the problem, I was. A large part of why I wanted to go on this specific trip was because I know I still have some judgments of this population deep down. Believe me, I don't even like admitting this to myself, let alone this blog. But I do need to remind myself of this so that I can ensure I don't focus on what "they" might possibly not be doing. Instead, I need to see what I could do.

I could love like the people of St. James.

--Sara Williams

P.S. Patrick, I'll try to stop appearing in so many of your pictures.

The first day of service

I was thrilled to receive the email informing me that I got in the program. I have been imagining how  Chicago looks like and how the trip will be from then on.

Although it's the first time coming to Chicago, I fell in love with the city. Big cities are always attractive, but Chicago is more special because of the mission we are carrying and the awesome group that I'm traveling with. The volunteer group consists of 15 people, they are:

Advisers and Group leaders: Patrick, Peng, Alex and Ruiling

Dylan: a super funny guy, this trip becomes much more interesting because of him

Sara: who has a contagious smile that makes people comfortable

Mckaley: who can speaks my language make me feel amiable.

Kirsten: a thoughtful and sweet girl

Hillary: we made 38 sandwiches today, had a lot of fun with those bread and turkey.

Zack: the youngest one in the group who play clarinet in wind ensemble.

Shayla: a warmhearted and encouraging girl making me forget I'm from a different culture

Brittany: a cool girl with beautiful hair

Cathy: a Chinese girl with passion and enthusiasm 

Kat: my childhood friend

And myself 

We went to St.James church in the morning, the staff gave us a brief introduction. After got a general idea about food pantry, we started our first day of service.

It was a busy day, the work was a bit harder than I thought, but we did it very well. We organized the food and rearranged them, helped with the cleaning; made some lunch for homeless people and distributed them. 

"Teamwork, Get to know people, Consideration" were the three things that we have learned during tonight's "reflection", these are some things that I would never learn in the classroom. Then I realized what I really fell in love with is not the city but the place where we stay together, work together, laugh together like a family.

- Yi Wang 

The lessons I can never learn from books.

Hello everyone,

     I'm Huong, however I go by Hillary. I'm from Vietnam. I'm a sophomore student in Computer Animation. This is my first blog about my awesome spring break trip in Chicago with amazing friends. Hope you will enjoy my story as I will try my best to blog everyday.

     Today was the first day of our service. It went so well that I could not believe that I had this experience with totally new friends, including international and domestic students. We had a good time together for the pass 3 days, everyone was so nice and friendly that I was so surprised that I had not had much good exprience with different friends on campus through the pass 2 years. Although we have different majors, backgrounds and culture, it seems like we are united as one. My story starts  from here.

     As today went by, I have learnt 3 new lessons that I believed it can barely learn or find them in any books. First of all is teamwork. As I said above, I was impressed by how 15 students can together work productively and excitingly for the good reason, helping the society. In spite of the language barrier, we all speak the same language in out hearts as supporting Saint James Food Pantry to help the homeless people. We are from China, Vietnam and America but everything went so smoothly and the smiles were all on our faces everytime. A hardworking student can do lots of things but with 15 hardworking students, you can expect more from us. We were divided into 3 groups to arrage diapers, hygiens items, food cans.etc; clean the area and sort out different food bags. At the beginning, it was confusing and frustrating as we were new to the work. However, we got better and more productive as we could slowly see the outcome we were getting closer. All the bags were collected nicely and well-organized. As we were doing that, we were singing and enjoying every moment together which just reminded me of the beginning scene of Frozen when all the guys chanting a song while collecting the ice. Isn't it cool? Or aren't we like High school musical. Lol.

     The coolness doesn't stop at there. The second lesson that I learnt from today service was getting to know someone. You can't judge anyone with their appearances just like judging a book by its cover. I really agreed with this statement as today I made 15 new friends which it had not happened before in my life. I'm usually quite and shy to strangers or new classmates. However, I found it easy and interesting to meet this awesome group of friends. For the first time I heard that people said I was hilarious and funny when I always compare people with cartoon characters as well as I found that a student in Public Relation or in Jounarlist can be really outgoing and super smart. Furthermore, I bet you guys will get jealous at how can I get a chance to meet new friends who are a cute American girl really into Chinese culture or a little girl who is coffee addicted and funny or 2 girls who are really energetic and can get super hyper whenever the music is on. Awesome right? It is not done yet. I felt like we were getting closer pretty fast as we shared the worries when one of us getting sick. In addition, as you know how an Asian girl can get any cute, right? I'm pretty sure you want to know more about our leader, Ruiling. She will be the happiest girl you want to spend a day with no matter how sad you are.

    The last but not least is the lesson about Consideration. As we were doing the service today, we figured out how the people at the food pantry really take care of their clients just like they take care of their families. Loving your family and your friends are one of the missions in one life, but to love and to care people who are not your relative and homeless and hungry in your area is another missions that not as easy as we think. Giving food out free is not enough, but just like we want to feed our families well, we all want to get the best and the healthiest food for them. Mrs. Kathy, Saint James Food Pantry director, taught us that priceless lesson as helping others we can also help ourself to learn new thing and create a better society. Even though today we just did a small thing as we sorted food, I felt like I was a part of the society I'm living in. As we did a small job, we created a bigger affect like how the Egyptian pyramid was made from thousands of small cut stones. In brief, I learn how to love and care of people around me.  A society can be just one individual after all, therefore, if we can we should help the others to make it stronger.

     In conclusion, in the short time, I could not be any happier as I have learnt so many new things as well as made new friends. I appreciate all the work of everyone today to make it come to success. I wish I could bring my good experience back to Springfield to connect all the students on campus to different cultures as well as spread more love around people. But the story will soon be more interesting through the trip. I hope I can get more good experience and share with everyone.

It's me when we were arraging the diapers. Have much fun!

Glimpse of St. James Food Pantry

We visited St. James Food Pantry today. It was interesting for me since I work with the food outreach for Missouri State to see the difference between different pantry operations. Their big message was empowerment. Peng commented "it seems like they know what they are doing and programs are very well structured and focused on education and not merely giving away food." 

Here are a few pictures from the day...

--Patrick, Co-Advisor

Sara decided she liked to be in photos!

Day 1 Review

Whenever you are tackling a complex project with a brand new group of people, encouraging group cohesion is a must, and that's what we've done so far on our journey. Not only have we played endless car games to facilitate bonding time and pass the long hours on the road, but we have also participated in multiple ice breakers to find common interests and learn more about one another. As a group, we have already grown closer together as friends and companions, and we look forward to making a difference together.

In our second official team meeting of the trip, we were asked one simple question: "Why is Sam poor?" With no further prompting or background information, we proceeded to brainstorm on possible reasons that Sam, a generic idea of your average urban individual, was poor. In our small groups, we came up with four broad topics: Lack of Education, Family Issues, Excessive Debt, or Impaired by a Disability. Alex, one of our trip leaders, shuffled the topics between the four groups and asked us to dig deeper - Why didn't Sam have a proper education? Why had he accumulated so much debt? What caused him to be impaired by a disability?

After a few minutes of expanding on these topics, we came back together as a group and shared our findings. As each group listed off the possible chain of events that could have lead to Sam's poverty, the moral of the story quickly became clear - Poverty can be affected by anything and everything. What kind of family you grow up with, what kind of education you receive, what financial resources are available to you,  what your physical and mental condition is, EVERYTHING about your life can positively or negatively impact the distance between you and the poverty line. Each event in your life is connected to another, and they all comes together to create your social and economic status.

What does this mean for us? As a volunteer force, our goal is to become an event in people's lives that breaks the cycle of poverty - we are here to move the events in a person's life in a positive direction with our unexpected and and unsolicited assistance. We are here to move the time, money, and energy that might have been spent on attaining food towards higher goals and aspirations, such as a security deposit for an apartment so they can attain a place to call home or a subway ticket so that they can travel back and forth between work and home.

As a cohesive and motivated group, we are united in our goal of fighting for the victory in the War on Poverty.

Let's hear it for the Bears.

- Zachary Riel

Lincoln Museum

A great experience today visiting the Lincoln Museum. We definitely learned a lot about his legacy and some of the issues in his presidency. The biggest thing I learned was about the other candidates that ran against Lincoln and some issues with states rights vs individual rights. Plus there was an awesome hologram show. Below is a photo (a bit blurry) of the group.

--Patrick, Trip co-advisor

YES! CHICAGO TRIP MARCH 2014!

I am very excited about this year's spring break to Chicago as the dates approaching. Chicago has been a memorable place for me as it was the first American city I got to see when I fist came here almost three years ago( even though I only got to see the airport at that time). I also had my very first trip in America there during my Thanksgiving break in 2011. I love Chicago because it embraces different cultures and wonderful people from all around the world. So I think our awesome group which includes both Americans and internationals will definitely fit in.  I am excited also because the people I will have the trip with are awesome. They are a group of people who are passionate about learning and serving hunger and homeless issues/people in America.
Hunger and homelessness have always been a global issues for a lot counties in the world. Both developed and developing countries. In order to resolve those problems, it is key to first have more people aware and concern about those issues. It is very meaningful that Missouri State is hosting this trip and giving students from different parts of the world the opportunity to learn some hands on experience about hunger and homelessness. Those participants, educated college students and potential future industry leaders, their awareness and actions can possibly affect those issues in a big, positive way in the long term.
As an international student, I have got a lot of help and support from my American friends since I got to Springfield. I am very glad to have the opportunity to serve those Americans who need help and give back to some great people on this wonderful land. I am interested in learning about community service and volunteering system here and possibly earn some experience that might apply back to my home country and better serve those in need in my home country and whatever places I will settle down in my future life.

Excitement For Chicago

I have never been to Chicago, so it is no wonder I was a little worried about planning a week-long service trip to the Windy City for 18 students. However, with the help of Ruiling Li (my co-trip leader) and several others, I honestly can't wait for spring break to arrive.

The social issues that our trip is focusing on is hunger and homelessness. Hunger is a huge problem in our country; nearly 50 million Americans rely on charitable food donations. There are several misconceptions of hunger in America, and I recommend to take the Hunger Quiz to test your knowledge about the issue.

What I love most about this trip is that I get to work with international students. Half of the trip is international students and the other half is American. Coordinating the trip with someone from the other side of the world has been a unique and wonderful experience. In our two pre-service meetings, it has been so much fun to see how all of our different backgrounds blend together and have molded us into (what I think) is going to be a great service team.

The writer Aaron Sorkin who once said "change comes in excruciating increments for those who want it."This one trip is not going to solve the issues of hunger and homelessness. But if we look at the root causes (i.e. poor distribution of food, lack of access, addiction, etc.) of these issues and can gain knowledge through our experience, we can then share that knowledge and impact others in the hopes of slowly bettering our communities.