2nd Volunteering gig, Aug 15 2010

I know this blog is mostly about being a Guild Master and gaming, however I have other interests too!

I signed up to serve breakfast again at the denver rescue mission. I am actually very excited the days up to Sunday and I wonder what new things I am going to experience. I was however very very very tired and my legs felt like jello. I went to bed very early though and was able to get up on time. 4:30 AM.. Whew that is not easy to do. Getting out of bed I found I needed more sleep!

The day before my best friend held a huge annual "Blongo Ball" tournament at a park near his house. About 100 people showed up but it was basically a huge day of grilling, eating, playing games, and Blongo. If you wanna know what Blongo ball is, check it out here http://www.blongoball.com/ . I was actually on two teams and both of my teams went over the max points, so we were sent down (Bob Barker: Closest to the actual price without going over) and eventually lost. But the day was amazing as we played volleyball, played H.O.R.S.E. (I won me a buck, which i gave it away the next game), chased kids around, ate some more, sat and talked to people, saw friends I havent in a while. I even had to leave early because I knew I would be dead tired and I really wanted to be up on time.

Arriving at the Denver Rescue Mission I was a lot more confident on what I was doing and where I was going. I pulled up and parked in the lot across the street. This lot was in view of the mission and may be a bit safer then last weeks. There is security at the rescue mission in an event of an emergency. Signing in I went downstairs into the room off of the dining area. There was already one guy there with Tervell. Tevell had us both do Pastries and this time I was ready. I knew last week I put much fewer pastries on the pan as I could have. This time I loaded it up and it looked awesome. The guy I was working with was named JT. He worked down at one of the hospitals as intake for the ER. That must have been an exciting job. Another person there was Dave who was doing community service for a DUI he had back in 2004. He had to do 50 hrs and said that he wanted to take care of it now. He said that there were very few places to do community service and for some reason I found that hard to believe. After doing the pastries Tervell told me I was going to do Coffee.

The job of the coffee person was simple. There is a rolling tray. I had to fill up coffee cups with hot coffee from these large befevage containers and line them up in rows on the table. When people came by I offered them coffee and handed it to them. They were not to take it themselves, however I'd say 1 out of 20 just came up and grabbed it. I wasn't about to say anything about that. If they want it let em have it. Anyway as I gave out cups of coffee, I filled up more cups. I was on top of it! "Would you like some coffee sir? Let me get that for you." A few times people asked for sugar and I was unsure if we had any. I asked Tervell and he said he would be back in a minute. Sure enough a minute later he came back with a big jar full of sugar. He asked if I could handle doing both the coffee and the sugar. I laughed and nodded.

He patted me on the back and said "Great job." Volunteering at the Denver Rescue Mission seemed a bit like being back in elementary school. I mean that as in people at the Denver Rescue Mission always thanked you and made you feel appreciated for even the simplest things. Back in elementary school you are encouraged to do your best and are rewarded with praise. While so simple and basic, it makes you feel good.

I also notice that there are people out there that just help because they like to. Three women, a grandmother, her daughter and grand daughter were there today. They were from south denver. They just volunteered because the like to do it every once in a while. People like them don't want to be noticed, they just want to help. JT told me that if he was ever in a position to need help, he hoped that there would be someone to give that help. While that may be a sort of self preservation, it is a clearly strong message of "do unto others, as you would that they should do unto you." Even if you never are in that situation where you are homeless or need help, it is amazing to know that there are people out there that care, no matter who you are.

When I was a kid my family was not well off. I would even say we were poor. I dont remember when I was really really young, but I do remember when i was 9 to 14 we had government help. We lived near Sable and Colfax in Aurora, a very lower income neighborhood. I remember my mom getting WIC and getting food in a liquor box every now and then. I never thought about who donated that, or who volunteered to gather the food and distribute it or even who ran the place that people could go to get it. I wish I could thank them and let them know they are appreciated, but I can't. So maybe helping out here is partly my thanks. I have lots of thanks to give.

A few times we ran out of meat so they had to cook more. People stood in line not complaining once. This Sunday we served 208 people. Which was up from the 120 they usually have on Sundays. Tervell said we did a great job but honestly it was so easy. The only problems I had were staying alert and not letting my legs hurt. As the service ended we helped bus tables and stood and talked for a bit. They all seemed cheerful there and none of them seemed to display their worries to anyone

I like volunteering and while nothing is always 100% cheerful and happy, it makes me almost feel that way on the inside. Let's see what next week brings.