Jamie Hughes- Service Learning Log #2

For my second service learning experience I delivered food with Katie and Jessica. Coming into this delivery with a previous experience, I knew what to expect with the client to volunteer interaction. I met the girls at Project Angel Heart because I didn’t need to listen to introduction again (and I was running a little late). This time we had five deliveries and around eight bags. As we looked at the map, this area of our deliveries was to the west. The first street we drove down was barricaded off by at least five cop cars. And I knew we were in the not well off part of Denver. I made two deliveries on this shift. The first house had a fence around it and they yard a little messy. We knocked and it took a while for this frail, older lady to come to the door. The sheet had warned us about that. She asked us the place the groceries on the table so we did. She thanked us and we left. At the second house, there were some guys outside and they asked us if we needed any help and we told them we were alright. This house was a duplex, and a guy answered and kindly took the groceries. As we left the neighborhood of the five houses we took a detour through downtown by the capital building and then headed back to DU.

During this shift I looked at Project Angel Hearts clients differently. I got a new outlook on volunteerism. These people were kind and very appreciative. They thanked us with smiles on their faces. The first time I volunteered, I only did to one house giving me a very restricted outlook on the type of people Project Angel Heart serves. This second time, I saw the positive aspects about the organization and how much the volunteers are appreciated. From this experience, I learned that for these people, maybe seeing one or two new people a week delivering food is a great moment in their lives. This shows that someone cares about their health and their well-being. I learned this by reading their facial expressions. I could tell by their attitudes that the food they were receiving was needed and helping them to live a better life. This is important to me because I know that this food is needed for some reason or another and that this helps them to live each day. Even through volunteering isn’t about me and my personal happiness doesn’t dictate if I volunteer or not, but I did enjoy this positive experience more than my negative one. Knowing that my time was given to a person or family that was appreciative of what I have just done for them means a lot to me. When somebody gives you something or does something nice for you, it is standard to say thank- you. I feel that even though Project Angel Hearts clients have been dealt a bad hand of cards, it still is their responsibility to show respect and courteous to their volunteers.