Monday, November 29, 2010

Student Reflection: O.O. students serve the evening meal at Siena-Francis House

On October 18th and November 13th, O.O. core team members served the evening meal at the Siena-Francis House.  During the four seatings, we served food trays to about 250 people.  Here is a link to the Siena-Francis House's website http://www.sienafrancis.org/ Here is Nate's (from the OO core team) reflection on the experience.



            Amongst the apparent chaos of the cafeteria during the evening meal at the Sienna-Francis House, five words reign supreme: “Thank you sir. God bless.”



            When I first arrived at the Sienna-Francis House, I was a little apprehensive about how much I would enjoy the experience, because I had homework, meetings, and other obligations that I felt I needed to attend to.  However, I soon found myself trying to keep up with the frantic pace that is inevitable when trying to feed 250 people in a relatively short period of time.  During one of the prayers I was looking out over the group of people who had come to be served, and it became apparent to me that they were grateful to be there, perhaps not happy, but nonetheless grateful.  This realization forced me to slow down and enjoy the experience rather than looking at it as obligation to be fulfilled.  After changing my perception I began to realize that I wasn’t that different from the people who were eating at the Sienna-Francis House, especially the younger diners.  If my parents weren’t blessed with the jobs that they have I wouldn’t be able to support myself.  I am dependent on someone else for my survival, and the critical difference between me and them is luck.  A lost job, death, or other unfortunate circumstance could quickly turn the tables.



Furthermore, I was thoroughly impressed with the people at the Sienna-Francis House, because they weren’t bitter about being served by a group of students from private high schools who have earned only a small amount of what they have.  I don’t think I could do the same if I was in their position.  I can honestly say that I have never met a group of people that were quite so grateful for what they were being given.  I think this is something to keep in mind for those of us who have been dealt a more promising hand in life.  We must remember that the world doesn’t consist of us and them, rather just us.

Monday, November 22, 2010

OO collects 858 turkeys!

Thanks to many generous supporters, O.O. collected 858 turkeys on Saturday, November 20 at its annual turkey drive.  All turkeys will be delivered directly to the homes of materially-poor families.  The tukeys were transported from Creighton Prep to the Henry Doorly Zoo for storage.  Thanks to all who donated. Thanks to the zoo for storing these birds.