by Sr. Therese Wetta, ASC
Thirty ASC Scholar first-year students gained experience and insight into the food scarcity reality for many children when they did volunteer service at Kansas Food Bank on September 8 or 15. These students chose to accept the financial ASC Merit Award offered them based on their secondary volunteer service and their GPA. They are required to take a one-hour class on service leadership and give 40 hours of volunteer time each semester. Sister Inês joined the first group.
Named after the five ASC Martyrs of Charity (reading the profile on the sisters is their first assignment), this group service project helped them know one another better, live two hours in the spirit of the ASC Sisters, and reflect on their blessings. The first group transferred cans of food from original boxes into containers for easier inclusion in the bags of food that travel to 85 of the 105 Kansas counties to assist children over the weekends.
The second group prepared 12-count bags of potatoes from two-ton bags received from Idaho.
The students are required to write a reflection on this experience. These are paragraphs from some of the reflections.
I’m grateful that there are people like the Food Bank willing to help others in need. Grateful for the privilege of being there that day and being able to be a part of the help. Knowing that our hard work is going to good use and feeding people around Kansas is truly amazing.
The thoughts and feelings I had were ones I’ve never had before. All I can think about was the people receiving the food. I thought about who it was going to and what they were going to do as soon as they got it.
I have been in the shoes of those relying on donated food, so I made sure to carefully package the potatoes neatly. I hope right now there is a family having a nice meal with the help of my hands gifted by God.
I was not aware of the severity of the issue, until now. I never thought about the amount of “regular” people that experience hunger. People with jobs, homes, and children. It’s disheartening to think about. I find it so sad that many kids receive their only meals at school. Experiencing hunger through weekends, breaks, anytime school is not in session. It makes me think about the importance of food assistance programs and making sure that they don’t go away.
As I was doing my job packaging potatoes I couldn’t help but think about the family that was going to receive them, a family just like my own. People who don’t have the same privileges that I now have. Those potatoes were going to help a family have some satisfaction.
Single parent households headed by women experience food insecurity, and I know this through experience. Children coming to school hungry due to lack of food. Hunger could have an impact on children’s behavior and learning.
Volunteering with the food bank was an eye-opening and humbling experience. When we prepared meals and sorted out supplies, I kept my mind preoccupied with the people and families who were going to receive them. Realizing that these meals were going to children who otherwise would not have even eaten anything, my mind was filled with bittersweet emotions. I felt an intensity of compassion, but with it a heavy heart.
