Project Angel Heart: Kitchen Shift

Upon returning to the Angel Heart offices two days after my delivery shift, I was even more surprised at the number of people in the area. I expected dozens of volunteers to be crowded inside the kitchen, preparing and packaging food. However there were about six or seven of us, total, and we still managed to prepare vast amounts of broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms for a meal that I assume will be prepared in the next few days. While cutting broccoli and mushrooms, I met a few of the other volunteers that were at Angel Heart. One of them said he is approaching his one-year mark of his Angel Heart volunteering; he volunteers in the kitchen once a week. I was particularly struck by one of the comments this volunteer made during the food preparation. He said to us, “You see a lot of people come and go. Some people are here for a while and then all of the sudden they just stop showing up, sometimes because they have fulfilled their community service requirement. But you know, help is help.” This reminded me of the discussion we had not long before in our writing class, about whether the motivation for volunteer work makes a difference. To this volunteer, the more help the better, even if it isn’t always out of the kindness of people’s hearts. It made me reflect on my own opinion on the subject; it is still hard for me to decide whether the motivation makes a difference when it comes to people volunteering. I had to do this volunteer work for our writing class, but I still enjoyed it. I wonder if there are a lot of people who volunteer in similar situations, and if it makes a difference in the big picture. I will likely need a good amount more of life experience to answer this for myself.

In the end, my volunteer time at Project Angel Heart was what I would call a positive experience. Though I did not necessarily see the direct impact the work had on clients’ lives, I did see their gratitude when their weekly meals were delivered, and I did see some of the care that goes into the preparation of meals at the Angel Heart kitchen. It is great to see people who don’t have any obligation to be there putting in time and effort to serve others meals. It is, I believe, inspirational. I think the writing we will do for Angel Heart will further expand my understanding of the difference this organization makes in people’s lives.