House of Mercy
8th Grade Service Project 2016
The House of Mercy
This is an organization that does many more things that an average food pantry. The House of Mercy has a food pantry and a very low-priced general store, provides a basic education to uneducated children and parents, and runs a car wash for the few that have cars. There are two populations that benefit from this organization: the hungry and the poor. Both of these groups come for many if not all of the four above-mentioned parts.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What is special about this organization compared to others fighting poverty and hunger?
Not only does the House of Mercy provide food and other material needs like clothing, it provides a humanizing experience for the hungry and poor. The hungry and poor are welcomed with open arms at this organizations location while they may not be in their day-to-day conditions.
Child Receiving New Shoes
ESL Course Taught by the House of Mercy
A Single Bag of Food of 1000s Given and 1000s Needed
Jobs, Duties, and Responsibilities
When my confirmation group and I first arrived at the House of Mercy, my job was to bring in all of the donations that had been collected over the preceding months. I brought all of the food and clothing into the food pantry and general store before starting to organize the general store. I loved organizing the ties knowing that someone would eventually appreciate it even if I was not around to see the appreciation. After finishing the ties, I washed four cars of the people who came to look around the store are receive food from the pantry.
Best Part
My favourite part of the entire 25 hours of service I spent at the House of Mercy was seeing the poor and the hungry. On the first day, people were gradually filtering into the store from outside while I was organizing the ties. I enjoyed seeing these people because they showed me that everything I knew about the life of a poor and hungry person was wrong. Before doing this service, I only knew about the poor beggars on the street and the statistics. The House of Mercy showed me the people behind the statistics that are not all ragged and worn down; the poor and hungry are people. People just like everyone.
"Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth…these are one and the same fight." - Ban-Ki Moon
Both You and I Moving Forward
We should all be aware at Flint Hill of the poverty and hunger around us if not those of Washington D.C. just miles away. After reading this, I hope you tell someone else. The only thing you have to take away from this is that one poor person is not another poor person and one poor person is not necessarily the same as that one pictured in the media. Tell one person about this and you will be doing your duty to the world. Let one person know and tell them to tell someone else. If the whole nation knows, then action can be taken. Volunteering time and energy is the next step; volunteering can be minutes on the third Saturday of every second month or an hour every two days for a year.