A Mission Solano Event…
Written on April 22, 2010 by flacanda
Category: General Talk
Mission Solano is a well-known name for community service and help in Solano County. Partially fueled by volunteers and by donations, it thrives in more ways than most people know. I volunteered in a Mission Solano Event through my school’s KEY club earlier this month. When I first went, I didn’t really know what to expect. Sure, I’ve gone to a bunch of volunteer events, but all any of us knew was: we were going to feed people – that’s it! What I didn’t know was that Mission Solano had this HUGE (not to mention amazing, great, fantastic, and other redundantly positive synonyms) site to help phase the homeless out of, well, homelessness.
Praying for those who need the help
This Mission Solano site currently has some construction and beautification projects in the works, but it was still effective in its purpose. It houses single women with their children and whole families; but it did more than that. It enforced a positive feeling for those living there, and it’s lively optimism made me feel energetic and diligent. When we had the tour, we saw that the rooms for the kids had bunk beds and were all neatly made. The family units reminded me of a dorm and hotel room combination- everything was clean but at the same time was well fitted.
So I showed up on that breezy afternoon with a salad and numerous varieties of salad dressings in tow. I walked in and was greeted by over a dozen people living on the site. They were all walking in or sitting, chatting with each other, while the volunteers that showed up were scrambling to get the food organized. A man whose name I cannot remember announced that we should say Grace for the wonderful food before digging in. Out of 16 teen volunteers, we had enough food to feed the people at the site over the next days! I think that for all of us, it was empowering to know that sure, we’re “just” teenagers, but we still helped people right here in our own community. People…who are finding their way back into their own homes again, people who we never would have met otherwise. These people were grown adults and growing kids who relished the homemade spicy Indian soup, the Mexican enchilada casseroles, and the señorita breads that us teens pulled together for them. And it was a great time enjoying their company – even helping clean up felt more satisfying than cleaning up after my family during dinnertime.
This experience with helping Mission Solano was a prodigious one, and I would never pass up a future opportunity to help them if it comes.
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