Lunch Serving at Family Supportive Housing Center

On January 13, 2013, our Girl Scout troop made and served lunch at the local San Jose Family Supportive Housing Center. It was honestly a rewarding community service experience that I will never forget. We started the day off by wrapping plastic utensils in napkins. Next, we started to prepare the food. On the menu were sandwiches, potato salad, fruit salad, and chicken noodle soup. Since the salads and soup were prepared the day before, the only thing left was to do was to make the turkey sandwiches. The seniors and I established an assembly line and in less than half an hour, we had about 50 sandwiches made! Next, we arranged the food in trays and placed them along the counter designated for serving food. We then determined serving sizes and prepared for the serve the residents. We had initially planned the lunch for 70 people. However, in the end, only about 40 came. Therefore, we had half of our food left over! After serving all of the residents, we had the chance to eat lunch. After making and serving lunch, we were all exhausted and eager to dig in. All of the foods turned out to be really delicious and we felt proud of what we had accomplished. After finishing lunch, we set aside a plate of food for Christi, the volunteer coordinator at the center. We then cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes, packed all of the leftover food, and of course, took group pictures. This concluded our day of serving lunch at the San Jose Supportive Housing Center.

Throughout the lunch, I felt so happy to see the residents enjoy the food that we made. It warmed my heart to see them smile and to hear them say “thank you!” as they walked out the door. It was truly a pleasure serving them and contributing to the community. The compliments on the food just added to the wonderful experience. I feel that there is always so much that can be done for the benefit of others and that is why I always strive to make a difference. This experience reminded me that with just a few hours of my day, I can make an impact on someone else’s life. I will definitely be taking an active role in the community and participating in as many service events as possible. This service experience was especially rewarding because I got to benefit the community while spending time with great friends, my fellow Girl Scouts. Serving lunch at the shelter may have only lasted a few hours but the memories will last a lifetime.