“Thank you, young man,” gasped the elderly woman.
“You are very welcome,” I replied, in awe of her gratitude. While she drove away in her car, I retreated back into the food bank with the cart.
Volunteering at Desert Mission Food Bank transformed my view of the financially-challenged and mentally-disabled. I met numerous individuals who come from all different backgrounds and beliefs.
I met a man whose hatred of Mexicans had been compared to none I had ever heard of before. He came to the food bank one day and after collecting his food, I helped him with his groceries to his car (my job is to help individuals with purchases to their car). I always talk to the customers to find out about their lives and how they are doing. After hobbling to his car with me behind him, he started to talk to me about his unemployment. He talked about how he had been laid off from his job months of years ago.
“All of these thieving, murderous aliens. They come here and steal & kill everything. I always think about shooting one of them with my .44,” gasped the man with racist views. I did not know what to say but to give him my thanks for visiting the food bank & to have a pleasant day.
Also, I encountered a lady who gave me my epiphany moment of the summer. She uses
the food bank's services a couple of times a month. As we strolled towards her car, I discovered that she was a woman deep-seated in faith. She told me of her belief in a higher being, for the trouble she had encountered are too much for an average person to overcome. As I listened tentatively to her oration, I began to ponder how this lady was able to still have faith after all the tribulations she had encountered. After unloading her groceries in her vehicle, I told her good-bye.
“Good-bye and God bless you,” she hollered back.
“God Bless you too,” I managed to let out.
“He already has,” she told me.
These encounters with these two different individuals changed my viewpoint on many things. No matter how terrible the man sounded, I truly believe that he has at least an ounce of goodness in him. And that was my summer doing volunteering at the Desert Mission Food Bank.