On the last day of our trip, the Hometown Heroes had the opportunity to serve with the Free Food Market and Second Harvest Food Bank. Participants had a wonderful time and as this was the last day of service, members reflected on which community partner they enjoyed most!
I have thoroughly enjoyed every site we have visited this week, but my favorite location was the Knoxville Free Food Market. So many of our service projects were behind-the-scenes, but KFFM was “front line” work and a great opportunity to interact with the people we were serving. At KFFM I helped the guests bag their groceries and carry them to their car. My heart was touched in such a profound way when these people would give me a warm smile, a heartfelt hug, and a giant “thank you” in return for something so simple as carrying a grocery bag for them.
- Savannah DeFreese
I really enjoyed each and every site we visited this week, but I think my favorite was KARM. It was really cool to do something that made a visual difference, like painting. I also personally liked that it was behind the scenes. It felt a little more like we were just doing something because it would make people feel comfortable without them knowing who did it or how it got done. It felt good to see how much better the place looked when we left.
-Elizabeth Hamilton
I have really enjoyed this entire trip and every site we visited, but my favorite location was the Knoxville Free Food Market. Knowing that some of our other projects were a part of the behind the scenes and the organizations were linked to one another put everything in perspective and with the food market we worked with people and interacted with them directly and I really enjoyed that. Getting to know the people and learning about them made everything more personal and knowing how much they appreciated our work was special to me. - Brittany Mason
The service site which impacted me the most was most definitely Second Harvest Food Bank. The reason for this being my favorite is because the majority of the sites that we had previously served at circled back to this one. Food that was supplied by the food ministries was bought by Second Harvest and we could see the impact which the cereal we bagged was actually marking on people’s lives. Seeing the joy that our presence was actually putting in their lives made me want to be more thankful for the things which I may take for granted every single day. -Ana Casey
This Alternative Fall Break trip has been absoluting amazing and definitely an eye opening experience to this social issue that is right next door. My favorite service site on this trip was the Fountain City Food Ministry. I found it very interesting how many different churches came together to help out with giving food and clothing to those in need. I especially respected they way the did this by letting the people shop in their facilities like a boutique, along with giving them a bag of food. The women volunteering there shared many touching stories that reminded me as to why I volunteer for such an important cause. - Sydney Stewart
I gained so much incredible insight from all of the projects we participated in so far, but my favorite place was the Knoxville Free Food Market this morning. Today was the first time I was able to interact with the people who were receiving the food being passed out. The amount of optimism and overwhelming sense of community was extremely eye-opening. No matter what they looked like, where they came from, or what obstacles they have been through, every single person waiting in that line this morning shared the same respect and care for one another. Overall, I thought the sense of unity this morning made the Free Food Market stand out from every other project we have done over Fall Break. -Lesley Schiffman
Each service site has been an eye-opener, showing me the different steps in the process of helping the homeless. We have been in warehouses where most of the behind-the-scenes work happens, and we have also worked at food banks where you have more direct contact with the people we are helping. To me, I loved working at Second Harvest. After doing our volunteer work, we were shown the entire warehouse. Hearing that most of the packaged foods cannot leave the building until volunteers like us have bagged them made me realize how significant our part can be. I was touched and found that being “behind the scenes” can have as much impact as being at the “frontline.” - Amber Tran
Although we visited varying service sites that portrayed different aspects of how they function, my favorite site was volunteering at the Free Food Market. This service site was interesting, to me, since we were able to directly interact with the individuals in need. While conversing with them, I learned about their backgrounds and other information about them. Another aspect that intrigued me was discovering that not everyone has to be in a specific form or fashion in order to be in need which was an eye-opener. Furthermore, this service site seemed to be the most unified since we got to interact with the “customers” with respect and dignity rather than in a condescending manner. I was completely touched by the appreciation the customers gave us for doing these simple tasks which helped us show the impact we were instantly having upon them. -- Shaina Huda
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