From Volunteer To First Job by Kristie

Before YouthCares I had no experience working or volunteering out of my school environment either. I’m glad I broke through that boundary when I signed up for volunteering at the YouthCares food bank. Originally I had signed up to work, but due to the fact that traveling to downtown from the Sunset and back again was completely out of the question, I settled for volunteering. At the beginning like most new experiences for me, it was a little intimidating to enter into a whole different atmosphere that. It seemed like everyone but me understood whatever was going on. Everyone at the food bank though who worked there seemed so kind and friendly to each other. I definitely wanted to be a part of it and am so glad I am now.

What will always make me remember YouthCares is everyone I got to work with, both seniors and youth. Although I haven’t been able to communicate with seniors very much because we speak different languages, I love working with them. Although it would be such a breeze if they spoke English, its still just as fun whether they speak Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, or Tagalog. Having a youth that speaks both English and another language helps to understand too. It gives a chance for those who normally don’t speak English to practice, whether senior or teen, and vice versa. I’ve made such wonderful friends at the food bank who are unforgettable and memories engraved in the pictures we all took together.

As soon as summer was starting to show, I was totally smitten with volunteering at the food bank. So naturally, I applied for working in the summer cycle. Once the summer cycle began I felt as though I was going to summer camp. Working with friends from the food bank and seniors at Woolf and Coleman house was more play than work. A bonus was that I was getting paid to do so but that part was easily forgotten when we were all playing bingo with the seniors, warming up for dancing, listening to music from Lanya’s father, or even just signing out of work with a check out question. It was an unexpected routine that all jobs seemed to have; only this job seemed truly more enjoyable.