The Mission

Since January I have been volunteering every other week at a mission just down the street from home.  My first couple of shifts involved sorting, cutting, and slicing vegetables, peeling onions (ow) and mixing salads, just doing those tedious little jobs that need to be done in a soup kitchen.

I met a few nice volunteers and then some who seemed a bit odd.  It came to my attention that not everyone who's peeling vegetables WANTS to be there.  I found out that about half of the group were volunteers and the other half were doing community service - yikes!  For what - who knows, but when someone sitting next to you with a knife in their hand, you get a little curious as to what they've been up to! 

The other week I was 'promoted' to the tea area.  This job involves keeping the teapots full (there's no coffee on Saturdays), keeping the toast, jam, butter, milk and vegemite stocked and keeping the counter and dining tables tidy for my homeless and less-fortunate friends.

So far the tea-side volunteers and the regular clientele have been very polite and friendly.  Some look just like you and me, and others seem a bit strange (like the man who put butter in his tea) but really, you just can't judge as no one knows what life has handed them. A smile and a friendly hello seems to do the trick and is probably all they really need.