Service Reflection

I helped once a week on Fridays during Lent at the St. Paul the Apostle Fish Fry in Joliet. We served between 200 and 400 individuals each week. My job was to man the carry-out window, but also to watch the children playing in the gymnasium to make sure they had safe fun. There were a number of volunteers helping with a variety of things, such as selling baked goods, making the food, and also selling fish fry food to those who wished to eat there.

            My typical interaction with people went as follows: They would hand me their meal tickets, I would tell them their order number, I would give their order to the people tasked with preparing the food in back, they would bring me their order, and I would call out the number. Then when the individual came to get their food, I would tell them to have a great night and that I’d see them the next week.

            Overall, I would say that everyone who we served were in a good mood. While I didn’t know everyone, there were a few faces I became very familiar with over the weeks that I worked there. I could tell that some of the other volunteers had been doing this for years, because they would frequently have visitors from among those we served who would come in back and have conversations with us. It was a very positive experience.

            One gentleman I particularly remember was one who was wearing a baseball cap that had my high school’s symbol on the front. I had asked him if he knew anybody going their, and he had said that his grandson went there. While I had not met his grandson because of the difference of ages, I did learn that he was a sophomore baseball player who was hoping to get to start next year. Our conversation ended because his order had come and he needed to get back home, but over the next few weeks when he came in I would get a chance to talk to him some more about how his grandson was doing.

            I learned from this experience that food brings people together and that it can start conversations that turn into strong and lasting relationships. If it were possible, I would definitely partake in an experience like this again in the future. I would love to go back to help at St. Paul the Apostle’s Fish Fry again next year, but because I will be away at graduate school I will not have the chance to help at that specific one.