BrianCaulkins

Brian Caulkins
March 10, 2009

Psychology 350
Reflection for Alternative Spring Break – Day #4


Today we started our volunteer work an hour later. I think this was a good idea because most of the time we didn’t leave on time and everybody was grouchy and not willing to work. The organization we worked at today was called Music City Mission. When we first pulled up to the building it didn’t look like much but as soon as we walked inside it was pretty nice. I started my day off by washing out trashcans that were really dirty. It wasn’t that warm outside so the water was very cold. After cleaning out the trashcans I was assigned to rake leaves. By this time it had already warmed up and was pleasant outside. I decided to make raking leaves fun by raking them in a circle to look like a golf course. It wasn’t a masterpiece but I thought it looked pretty good for a leaf outline. After I raked leaves is when the real work started.

I became aquatinted with the head guy at the City Music Mission. His name was Bob. My job for the rest of the day was carrying out bags that the rest of the team packed up then load it onto the wagon. After the wagon was full, Bob and I took the wagon to a thrift store called Thrifts Mart. According to Bob, the Music City Mission receives compensation for every pound of clothing they bring. He told me that normally this was not the arrangement but with the economy being as low as it is nobody wants to donate clothes. The money that the Music City Mission receives goes towards electric bills and maintenance for the Music City Mission building. I believe that Bob and I made four trips to the Thrifts Mart. He told me that four loads was a good number since they only do this type of transaction twice a year. Another thing that I noticed while I was in the building was the customers. All of the customers were foreign and did not speak English. My girlfriend can speak Spanish very well and helped with some confusing conversations. Bob also told me that if you go up about another mile passed the building that all the stores are in Spanish or Arabic. According to Bob the last Census taken in that part of town stated that 80 to 85 percent of the population did not have a faith-based religion. It also shocked me when he told me that during Christmas time that his organization gave out 1200 toys to 300 kids. The funny thing was that the organization is Nazareth faith-based and 90 percent of the kids were foreign and was not of the same religion. It was not that it bothered him; it was just somewhat of a culture shock.

The good thing that happened to me today was learning about his part of town and how much I made a difference. I learned a lot about how our country is changing and how hard it is to be a successful person in a big city. It is something that I will always remember and take in into perspective once I am on my own. He was very appreciative and thanked every one of us. The frustrating thing that happened today was when Bob told me that sometimes people come into the building and are not in need. They are just “pros” as Bob would call them. These people take from the people who are in need. One of my friends today actually watched this happen. We went to the mall after our long day of work and recognized on the customer from the mission. These people were carrying lots of bags from expensive stores. This was a classic case of people being cheap and stealing from the needy. I don’t understand why people would do such a thing.