PAH reflection on kitchen shift

As I made my way through the congested lanes of Colorado Boulevard, there were millions of stressful thoughts going through my mind. Would I have trouble finding it? Would I be late? And to make this situation even more stressful, I was alone. You may be wondering what I could possibly be describing and the answer is the night of my kitchen shift at Project Angel Heart. PAH is a non-profit organization that prepares meals for individuals with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and others. It is mostly made up of volunteers and tonight I was volunteering three hours of my time to help prepare a meal. It had been on my mind all day and now it was finally time to be a big kid and face my nervousness. I found my way to PAH fairly easy with directions and was surprisingly 15 minutes early. As I turned off my car and locked it, I took a deep breath and entered the building.

Upon entering the kitchen, I was greeted by a warm, outgoing woman named Summer. She asked if I would be volunteering in the kitchen this evening and I replied yes. She then explained to me that she was the chef on duty tonight and she would get me started with my evening of volunteering. She then prompted me to put on an apron and hair covering. It was a blue apron and stylish fisherman’s hat I chose, if I remember correctly. She then had me make my way over to the sink to wash my hands. She demonstrated the proper way to sanitize your hands and I did the same, which was twenty seconds of lather with soap and rinsing with very hot water. She then asked me to grab a pair of rubber gloves and introduced me to my task of the evening. I would be peeling the skin off ten trays of cooked butternut squash with one other volunteer for meal preparation tonight. She demonstrated a fairly easy way to accomplish this and left me to my squash. I turned to my orange squash and after about five, found a successful way to peel them. As I stood peeling my squash, I took in the environment around me. I could not believe how large the kitchen was and was struck by the cleanliness of the room. There was a small radio in the corner playing a classic rock station. I observed the volunteers around me, two older men stood across from me and to my right chopping celery and singing along with the radio. The volunteer accompanying me in peeling squash was situated across from me, she was a younger woman who immediately struck up conversation. She asked if I was in college and if I had ever volunteered before. I replied with a no and she informed me that she had been volunteering every Monday night at PAH for three years. I also came into contact with the man to my right who has also been volunteering at PAH for a number of years. As time went by, I peeled my butternut squash and my mind began to wander. I thought of all the hard work and dedication these volunteers put into this organization and I also thought of my contribution. Where would this squash end up? Would it become appetizing for someone? I caught snippets of conversation going on around me. Another man talking of a new job he just applied for and all the work he needed to get done for the office. Another woman talked of her children and the obstacles of raising them. I peeled squash for three straight hours, just enjoying positive environment I was in.

The three hours of my kitchen shift seemed to fly by, and before I knew it my three hours were up. I finished my task and took my gloves off to find my hands with a tint of orange from peeling so much squash. We then wrapped our peeled squash with plastic wrap and placed it in the walk-in freezer. I then helped in sanitizing the kitchen. The counters were wiped down and the floors mopped, and one by one the volunteers filtered out of the building. As I removed my apron and hat and placed them in the pile to be washed, I thanked Summer for this wonderful opportunity. As I made my way back to DU, I reflected on my evening and felt very accomplished with myself. I immediately called my mother at home and described this experience to her. I told her of PAH and the wonderful things it does for individuals, but the topic I was most passionate about was the volunteers I had met tonight. The man with so much work to do and the woman with children and how they choose to volunteer their time to this organization when they have so many other things to do. PAH is such an amazing organization, but what makes it so successful are the volunteers who love having a part in making a positive difference.