Final Day at TCL

So with the final day of our service learning provided me with a good insight as to what TLC does for our community. Not only does the Pantry run on Tuesdays and Fridays and the free monthly Community Meal, but every day seniors have the option of coming to the church for some activities and lunch. This allows the local seniors to come to a gathering where they can play bingo, exercise, and for $2.50 they can get a freshly cooked lunch. I thought this was a great opportunity for the seniors to interact, get out of their houses, and for a cheap price, get a good meal.

By sitting in the Pantry for the month of January, I saw a variety of people with diverse backgrounds come in and seek help. No matter their story, size of family or even if they had a house to live in, Trinity Lutheran Church offered them a bag (or two) of cereal, tuna fish, canned vegetables, canned fruit, macaroni, Top Romen, bread, and other produce. Nothing special, but anything helps. I also met a handful of women who ran the Pantry. Most were retired, giving time out of their day, but others had jobs in which they scheduled around running the Pantry.

Overall, I'm glad that our class required us to partake in Service Learning. I learned of organizations within the Parkland Community that offered a helping hand to those in need. It felt good to be apart of the helping process but it also informed me of the amount of people in this area that month to month, struggle to get enough food to feed their family. As we have learned throughout this term, the fact that these people cannot make enough money to buy groceries is most likely not because they don't work hard...society has caused an insurmountable barrier that has hindered their finances (in most cases).