This week I did something special for my 10+ hours of community service. I helped prepare supper for my church’s Vacation Bible School. When I would be finished
with my internship duties of the day, I would head straight over to the First United Methodist Church and be put to work doing various jobs. On Monday I filled the utensil caddies and set all the tables before 170+ children came in to devour their meal. I did all sorts of other things like made lemonade and punch, diced fruit, cut up sausage links, and even separated regular Jello from fat-free Jello! I volunteer every year, but I am usually helping with the children the whole time. This year opened my eyes to the hard work people put in behind the scenes. Everyone put love into what they were doing and didn’t expect anyone to commend them for their hard work. It was a great opportunity to be
able to work with food since I am a Nutrition major. Even though they were serving things such as tater tots, pizza, and hot dogs, I still loved helping cut up the fruit (the finished product of the fresh mixed fruit was beautiful!). I would help out from 3 o’clock to around 5:30 every day except for Friday. On Friday I came in at 4:30 because there was not much to do, since all the leftovers from the week were being served that day. I filled the lemonade and punch pitchers, separated hot dog buns, and served the chili before all the children and their parents came in to eat. The parents were invited to see what the kids had done all week and ate with them. After supper, the kids ran outside to enjoy “Water Day” that happens on the last day of Vacation Bible School every summer. I was able to go out and supervise the kids while they had a blast going down water slides and eating sno cones and cotton candy. Many good friends were also volunteering, so it was fun to be able to catch up on conversation while playing with the kids. It always feels rewarding to give
a hand to such a great cause. What the church is doing is a wonderful thing; Vacation Bible School made such a big impact on me that I still have vivid memories of going my kinder- through 6th grade summers. This was a great and fulfilling experience and I was happy to give back not only to my church, but my community as well.
