Doing the Small Things

Today, my brother, who is a sophomore in high school, came home and told me about how he volunteered at a food pantry this afternoon. I thought that was so great and I was jealous I was not able to help myself! He went with a couple of his friends for service hours that they are required to do at school. He told me that he was really excited to help people who were in need of food or other items. But he then told me how he was upset because when he went to the food pantry, instead of helping the people, he and his friends were sitting in one of the offices at the pantry and they were putting labels on envelopes that would be sent to people asking for donations. I definitely understood why my brother was disappointed! Then, I tried to put things in perspective for both him and myself. If he and his friends did not put those labels on the envelopes, no one may have donated to the food pantry. Then, many people who are in need would not be able to come there and receive what they need.

Sometimes, when people volunteer, they expect to directly reach out to other people and somehow change their lives. I do think that is great if that can happen, but as I have become older, I realize that it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make something happen. In reality, envelopes do have to get sent out to ask people for donations. When I talked to my brother, I encouraged him not to give up and to return to the food pantry. I told him that eventually, he will get to meet and talk to the people who come there.

The little things that we do each day are usually the biggest help. One day, smile at someone who looks like they are distressed, hold the door for someone who looks like they are in a rush, or listen to the person who is upset and needs a friend to talk to. I have realized that this can make the biggest difference in someone's life, but we may not even realize it. During this season of Lent, that is one of my goals - to try to help someone as often as I can during the day by doing the simple things. These things honestly do make a difference in a person's life.

Helping the Homeless

As many of you know, last week I wrote about how excited I was to go on a Midnight Run with Campus Ministry. I had been on one Midnight Run before, but I did not get to talk to as many of the people we helped as I would have liked. So this run, I made sure that I talked to many of the different people we helped. I spoke to the man who organizes the Midnight Run before the people came for food or clothing. He explained to me that he was at one time homeless because he worked in a factory, and at one point he became very ill and due to the fact that he was not working, he did not get paid. Then, he found himself living on the streets of New York City. He organizes the Midnight Runs because he explains that many people who have had an education or had a job at one time may become homeless due to different reasons that people are not aware of. Many of the people that we provided food and clothes for explained that although they are thankful that they currently have a roof over their heads, they are not always able to eat everyday and they are sometimes cold because they do not have enough blankets to keep them warm.


Talking to the people on the Midnight Run was truly an eye-opening experience for me because many people feel that the poor are lazy and do not try to find a job. By talking to the people on the Midnight Run, I realized that everyone does not know the history of the person standing next to them, and it is important to help your neighbors because one day you may need help too. I am so thankful to have had this wonderful experience and I definitely plan to go on more Midnight Runs in the future.  

Midnight Run!

I thought it would be a wonderful idea to write about Midnight Runs today because I will be going with the Caldwell College Campus Ministry on a Midnight Run tomorrow night! Midnight Runs are a program that was developed to help the poor people of New York City. My freshman year at Caldwell College, I went on one Midnight Run and it was an amazing experience! During the Midnight Runs, Caldwell College works with other colleges to provide food and clothing for the poor people who do not have a home and are forced to live on the streets in New York City. There are several locations in which we stop at and the people in the area are informed that we are coming. During the Runs, the people are usually able to choose one or two warm pieces of clothing to wear and there are also some sandwiches and soup that they can eat. I think it is such a wonderful experience because the people truly appreciate what you are doing for them. Sometimes the people also like to talk to the people who bring them food and clothes on the Midnight Run and some of their experiences are heart-breaking. I am so excited about participating on the Midnight Run tomorrow and I cannot wait to blog about how it went!   

Helping Our Neighbors

Just the other day, I was thinking about how many people are willing to donate to far away areas such as Darfur, but they do not donate to people in the surrounding areas. Personally, when I am walking on the streets of New York City and someone asks me for a dollar to buy dinner, I am always hesitant because that one question pops into my head - "Is this person truly going to use the money for something good?" In reality, many people that we see every day may be in need, but we just do not realize it.

One example of when a lot of people in our area of Caldwell were in need was when Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey this past October. When Hurricane Irene hit, a lot of families struggled because their houses were damaged. Through Campus Ministry, I also found out that the food bank in Caldwell was extremely low because so many people were struggling after the storm. To be completely honest, I had no idea that Caldwell even had a food bank! I thought that Caldwell was such a beautiful town and there would never be any person or family here in need! After the hurricane, Kristin and I volunteered to stand in front of Shop Rite in Caldwell and asked people to donate food items to Kiwanis, who would be donating the items to the soup kitchen in Caldwell. After that event, I realized that there are so many people right around us every day that are in need! I hope to be able to do more to help people in our surrounding area who are always so supportive of Caldwell College!  

Children with Special Needs

Today, I thought that it would be great to talk about children with special needs! When I was fifteen, I volunteered at a summer camp for children with special needs, simply because I needed to complete service hours for my high school. I was actually very nervous about volunteering at Camp Hope because I had never worked with children with special needs before. What I did not know was that this experience was going to change my entire life. When I volunteered at Camp Hope for that one short week, I found a new passion for working with children with special needs. Although some of the children had either Downs Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy while other children were Autistic, I realized that they were so appreciative of someone who would play with them or someone who simply has the patience in to help them to complete an art project. The children at Camp Hope have helped me to become the person I am today and they taught me to appreciate everything and everyone in life. After my first week at Camp Hope, I realized that I would want to become a special education teacher.


As I had mentioned before, children with special needs love when someone spends time with them by doing something fun, such as reading them a story. There are many volunteer opportunities to work with these children. Caldwell College has a Center for Autism and ABA that looks for volunteers to come help with the children who attend the center. Also, now that I am returning for my fifth summer at Camp Hope, I know that they are looking for volunteers, and I have never seen a volunteer leave without looking at the world around them from an entirely different perspective. Lastly, never be afraid to contact your local community center in your home town because I am sure there are many events for special needs children!