Entries posted in "Personal"
Feeding the homeless for Thanksgiving
It’s four o’clock in the morning. My cell phone starts singing “Meant to Live” and I open my eyes groggily. I wonder, “What the heck am I doing up so early?“ and then I remember that I’m going to feed the homeless and low-income people today. I get dressed (I accidentally put on my shirt backwards), and went to wake up my mom (who greets me with a horrible glare).
Fast forward thirty minutes and I’m inside of the church dining hall, preparing for the hordes of homeless. I carefully set up each table and make sure that everyone has a mug and two cups—one 
for juice, the other for milk. My friends start to come into the church as well, all wanting to help their community. After each table has been set up, my friend and I go to put cookies into little baggies for the people to take on their way out. Next to the door, a lady sits behind a desk, offering help fliers to the homeless and also showing them a list of job openings.
Even at five in the morning, all my friends and I are still upbeat and active (mainly because of the Starbucks coffee I had). On the bright side, we didn’t have to wear hairnets like I thought we were going to have to do. Finally, everything was in place, and all we had to do was wait for the people to come filing in. A few minutes past seven, the people started trickling in, one by one. All 
of the volunteers rushed towards the man, offering him oatmeal, butter or strawberry jam on his toast, and eggs. Then, more people started to come in. Soon, the whole hall was packed and all of us were running back and forth in order to serve all of them. Our goal was to make the experience as personal as possible, so we all conversed with the people, trying to make them feel welcome. Unlike most homeless shelters, we didn’t have a buffet; we asked them what they wanted to eat, and went to go fetch it for them. To me, this helps maintain their dignity as it’s more like how an actual restaurant functions.
Three hours later; I’m tired and sick of doing this. I lose my smile and my eyelids start to droop from sleep-deprivation. Just about as I’m going to leave early and go home, a lady asks me if she can have more oatmeal. She tells me how much she appreciates my being there and then nothing else seems to matter. In some minuscule way, I’m helping my community, and people actually appreciate it.
Okay, now I’m rambling. The main point of this blog is to remind everyone that we should all give back to our communities for Thanksgiving. There are so many people on the streets, in the cold this Thanksgiving, and the least we can do is to provide them with a warm meal. When people ask me, “Why would you wake up so early to feed the homeless?“ I just give them a blank stare because it’s something that you should do, no matter what time you have to wake up. Everybody needs compassion in their lives and if you’re at home with your family, all huddled around a fireplace and munching on turkey limbs, think of all the people who don’t get that opportunity.
So, this Thanksgiving break, I encourage you all to find a homeless shelter or soup kitchen and volunteer there—it’s the least we can do. 
TWLOHA: To Write Love On Her Arms
Tomorrow I’m going to write “LOVE” on my arms in big, bold, fat, juicy, sexy (running out of adjectives), letters that only a Sharpie pen can create. I’m going to wear a short sleeve t-shirt no matter what the weather is like tomorrow. Why? No, it is not because I’ve finally gone insane. November 13 (tomorrow) is the second annual To Write Love on Her Arms Day.
As someone who suffers from depression and has struggled with suicidal thoughts, i think this is an absolutely wonderful idea. I would do it once a month if it meant raising awareness on the dangers and how severe this disease really is. Depression and suicide have an impact on everyones’ life, whether it’s through having depression, or knowing someone who suffers from the disease or knowing someone who has committed suicide. It’s such a simple thing to do. If you can dress up for spirit week at your school, i think you can take the time to write LOVE on your arm. Its time to stand up and get the word out. Maybe someday there will be a cure for this, instead of just a treatment that could potentially make it worse. It takes just thirty seconds to write four letters. I challenge you to stand up and speak out! - the Facebook page
This event has sentimental meaning to me because when I was ten, my brother tried to commit suicide. I’m pretty open with it nowadays because I think that I’ve finally moved past it and I can finally use it as a learning experience. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right (it sounded nicer in that Kanye West song)? It’s a long shot, but maybe if someone had been there with love on their arms when my brother needed it, he wouldn’t have done the things that he did (I love you Charlie). I want people to know that I understand depressed and suicidal thoughts, and that they can talk to me no matter what it’s about.
You can find out more about TWOLHA at the Facebook page (if you have Facebook) or the actual website:To Write Love on Her Arms.
It doesn’t take too long to write LOVE on your arms. I’d say… fifteen seconds maximum (well, depending on how artistic you’re going to be with it). Do it to for the people you know that have committed suicide or suffer from depression. Do it for the people at school that might be suffering from depression. Do it for the people that you will never know because they have taken their own lives.
Spread the word. Stop the bleeding.
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