2012 Blogs

Back to reality

10/20/2012

So like I told you last week, I had an awesome opportunity to travel with the IUE School of Nursing to New York City and Washington D.C. for my community clinical experience. I can't describe how fulfilling a trip that it really was. We were able to to work right along side local volunteers and workers in places like soup kitchens, fundraisers for the NYC food bank, Christ House, Food and Friends, The Nutrition Lab, and several different churches that helped support the local poor and homeless. I can't really explain how gratifying it is to help a mother and two kids pick out food at the food bank and the little kids be so excited just to finally have something to eat. I know myself, like many of all of us, take such a simple thing as being able to eat whenever we want for granted. At places like Christ House, which is a hospital only available to the homeless in D.C., and the churches we were able to help in the kitchen and prepare good, healthy meals for these less fortunate individuals and got a chance to sit down with all of them and get to hear their stories and what led them to the situation they are in now. It's really an eye opener to hear how some of them were just like any other normal person until one day something like a fire or unexpected health issue caused them to lose everything they had ever worked for. At Food and Friends and the Nutrition lab were didn't get to work face to face with the individuals we were helping, but we assisted in making THOUSANDS of healthy meals for disabled, poor, sick, homeless, and local middle schools. It was relieving to see so many genuinely caring people who work long days and still maintain a positive attitude because they know how important their contributions were and loved being able to give back to people. It really makes me realize all that I do take for granted and how much more I could help people who truly need it.