The following post has been submitted by Becky '17, First-Year Program Participant

On Monday August 19^th, Team B of The 1742 Experience volunteered at New Bethany Ministries.  We split into two sub-groups.  My group, led by co-team leader Michelle '16, went to the warehouse while the other group, led by co-team leader Jenn '14 , stayed at the kitchen to cook and serve lunch.  We met Fiona, a charming and intriguing woman from Ireland, who gave us instructions for our project in the warehouse.  We demonstrated exquisite teamwork, diligence, and efficiency as we went through all the bags of food and organized them in different crates.  We got the whole job done and had fun doing it.  We also swept the warehouse floor after we finished emptying all the bags and filling all the crates.  We demonstrated resourcefulness by using snow shovels as dustpans.  Stepping back and looking at the end result was exciting and satisfying because we made a significant difference and it looked much better.  The look on Fiona’s face upon her return was extremely rewarding because we could see how astounded and grateful she was.  We then proceeded to load the crates into Al’s van in order to transport the food to the kitchen, which is up the street from the warehouse. 

After we ate lunch, we took over the other group’s job in the kitchen in order to give them a break.  We served seconds to those who were still hungry.  This part of the day was extremely rewarding as well because seeing the happiness and appreciation on their faces was heart-warming.  It truly made my day when they said “thank you” or “bless you.”  While reflecting upon our experiences later, everyone agreed that the peoples’ gratitude and appreciation were very rewarding.  We were definitely very helpful to all the people there, and I think they were to us as well.  They were all happy to have us, and we learned from them as well as gained new experiences, insights, and perspectives.