SJ Service Hours

For my fifteen service hours that I did for Strake Jesuit I volunteered at the Houston Food Bank. While there, I sorted cans and built food baskets for the hungry around Houston. The food baskets consisted of everything from cereal and cookies, to rice and beans.  I found that volunteering at the Houston Food Bank provided a great opportunity to learn and grow. In order to make food baskets at a reasonable pace we had to team up. We formed big assembly lines. One group of people would sort the incoming food donations into different boxes. Then other groups would put the designated amount of their item in the basket. The last group would stack the finished baskets. No work would have gotten done without cooperation. Seeing all the food donations helped me see the value in just donating a bag of rice. Just small donations can help keep a family from starving for one more night. Through volunteering at the Houston Food Bank I saw that we are all called to do service in our communities. Service isn’t supposed to be horrible job. Service is meant to make you feel good about helping others. Through my experiences at the Houston Food Bank I came to see the importance of service and helped me better understand the mission of the Church.  The Church is meant to be a vessel of salvation for all men. Through service we help fulfill the job of the Church. While doing service with my family I grew closer to them. We were united in a common goal of helping others. My family enjoyed the service project. It became a family outing where we would bond and come closer. The fifteen service hours I completed at the Houston Food Bank brought me closer to my family and helped me see the importance of service in the world.