Download Soup Kitchens and Social Justice Community service and

Soup Kitchens and Social Justice
Community service and volunteering have always been very important to me. I spent the
majority of my school years in a boarding school, in a small hill town in India where community
service was an important aspect of the curriculum. In 2013, I volunteered at a home for
differently abled orphaned children, and the sights I saw there moved me to tears. After that day,
I decided to volunteer as much as possible, to make use of my privileged life, to help others. I
continued my volunteer work, in my last two years of high school, in the city, by teaching Math
and English to underprivileged children. I had decided to come to SJU due to its emphasis on
community service.
I volunteered at the Blessed Virgin Mary Soup Kitchen, for my Discover New York class.
I actually arrived to the venue early and spent some time walking around the complex and taking
pictures of the church. When I was finally joined by my peers, we were led downstairs into the
dining area, where we folded and carried large tables, and arranged chairs around them. Soon
after that we were joined by a large group of volunteers, many of them from high school. I
organized and put cutlery into paper napkins. It was a very organized and sanitary process. Soon
the kitchen and the dining was buzzing with conversation, most of it in Spanish. I also helped do
inventory and organization. Soon the food started arriving, and had to be prepared. I remember
being the only one being able to cut a whole onion without my eyes smarting. There was an air
of camaraderie and friendship in the hall. Some people worked in the kitchen, while some were
responsible for serving drinks. Soon, people began arriving to eat, and the serving began. It was a
very dignified and systematic process. Volunteers arranged food on a long table, and a plate was
passed down from the back, and everyone would serve a portion of the dish they were
responsible for and pass it ahead to the front. The food was plentiful, and balanced, ranging from
baked pasta to grilled chicken, and various salads. There also an opportunity to receive second
helpings. There were many posters about the importance of a healthy diet. Once the serving was
over, we all relaxed and chatted for a bit, and soon after began the cleanup. Chairs were
reorganized and I helped in sweeping the floor. I actually managed to make some friends in the
process.
Most of the people who had come to eat at the soup kitchen were old men and women, which
reminded me of my grandparents back home, and made me feel a little sad. One woman even
tried to pack her meal to take home with her. Like all times, volunteering reminds me of my
privilege, and how I can use this privilege to help others. The learning objective of my class
states ‘You will be empowered with a well-rounded academic and social experience’ and ‘You
will be a confident, professional, and ethical citizen of the world.’ After volunteering I feel I can
be an ethical citizen with a lot of social experience. It helped me understand the other side of
New York City that is sometimes not portrayed in media- the side that is not glamorous and
often has so much suffering, and as I am ‘discovering New York’ in my course, it becomes to
understand that learning about the people of New York is also important.
The population I served were mostly homeless people, which often carries a stigma in New York
City. They are often perceived to be dangerous or drug addicts, but after serving, I believe that
they are just unfortunate and they too, deserve a right to a dignified and respectful life, and I feel
the soup kitchen was able to provide such an experience for them. I was very touched when an
old lady thanked me profusely after I cleaned her table, and I felt like I was doing something
worthwhile with my time. I have learned to try and empathize before passing a judgement.
Service learning is essential to the university’s Vincentian ideals of social justice, it allowed me
to immerse myself in a situation I normally wouldn’t be in, and allowed me to help people in
need. The causes of poverty however, are deep rooted in an unfair system itself, and though the
soup kitchen may not end poverty, it does provide a safe environment where people in need can
receive the nutrition they need. In today’s world social justice is an important issue, injustice is
seen across the globe and it is now that the Vincentian mission and message becomes most
important. If privileged people decided to spend even a small amount of their time or money in
helping those less fortunate, many of the world’s problems could be solved. The soup kitchen
provides social justice and equality in terms of food security and nutrition for one meal, and even
though it may seem like a ripple in an ocean, all kindness and justice begins at home, and with
small steps forward.
I have always had a strong belief in social justice, being a woman from India, I have witnessed
inequality and poverty while growing up, and this experience has just strengthened my belief and
convictions in the concept of social justice for all, including the poor, differently abled, women
and people of color. I have often thought about how I would change the world, and the solutions
I propose for poverty include government sponsored vocational training workshops for homeless
people as well as raising of the minimum wage.
This spring break, I was in Los Angeles where I ended up having a conversation with likeminded
individuals who were much older and wiser than me. I expressed a sense of discomfort about my
privilege, and how I often felt uncomfortable that I had so much and others so little, and he said
to me, “Never apologize for your privilege, instead use it to do some good in the world.” Those
words have remained with me since, as well as the words of St. Francis of Assisi- ‘It is in giving,
that we receive.’
Zahra Choudhury, X03381009
[email protected]
DNY 1000C CORE: Discover New
York 201610
Professor Thomas Kitts