Doing anything for the first time can be intimidating. The first day of classes, the first time you try new food, or even meeting people can cause anyone a certain amount of anxiety. It’s a natural reaction to the unknown and something I feel daily. But as I have come to find out, one person can make a whole lot of difference in these situations and can give you a whole new look on how you tackle similar situations in the future.
The morning came of my first shift to volunteer at the mobile food pantry and that anxious feeling I always get was not being a stranger. I hopped in a car and headed to a place in the city I have never been to before to work with and serve people I have never met or seen. As we slowly prepared to serve the people at the spot that anxious feeling stayed with me. It persisted into the first few faces who I helped through the line. Each person was nice but most didn’t speak a lot of English so there was not a whole lot of communication going on outside of them pointing at food and me telling them to have a great day after they left. But about an hour into serving, I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely elderly woman named Maria. Maria walked up to me with an empty bag a big smile on her face. I could tell after we exchanged hellos that she, much like the other patrons, didn’t speak English as their first language and did not know much of it at all but that smile she was sporting when she walked up to me remained on her face the whole time I was helping her. She would thank me after every item of food I placed in her bag and after we were done together she looked me in the eyes and said “Thank you. God bless you.” As she walked away from me I had a moment to sit there and think about what had just happened and what she said to me. This woman I had never met before came to me knowing we wouldn’t be able to talk much and she communicated more to me than most other people can do with words. I could tell by the way she was so grateful for everything I was giving her and that this food was going to be prepared with love and care for whoever got the pleasure of eating with Maria.
Maria calmed my nerves and reaffirmed why I enjoy volunteering. Thank you, Maria and God bless you.
