By: Stephanie De La Cruz
Today was our second day of service. We made our way to the YMCA at 8am. It was a quaint building that overlooked green open fields where a dog named Mowgli liked to play fetch. Next to the building was a sand playground, a chicken coop, a rock wall, and a garden. After orientation and introductions, my group and another group headed over to clean the YMCA Healthy Living Mobile Kitchen. It was a neat experience to learn about the YMCA and how the people who worked there devoted their lives to helping people overcome the food insecurity plaguing Asheville. This also made me think about how food insecurity is a big issue in Springfield and in Branson, MO. Growing up, most of the kids in my school district relied on free or reduced lunches in order to gain the necessary nutrition they needed every day. However, most of the people I know don’t think that food insecurity is something as prevalent as it is in my hometown and college town. We don’t see it as a problem but it continues to grow and to be able to meet people who had such a passion for giving to others made me want to continue to work with other health initiative programs in the future.
After lunch, my group and another group set out to a coffee shop. It was a coffee shop by the name of Liberty House near downtown Asheville. I had a coffee called ‘cubanito’ with Himalayan salt. This was a great way to learn more about the people in my group as well as explore the city of Asheville. This and the reflection we had during the night made me really thankful for my spontaneous decision to participate in Bear Breaks and meet such a diverse and amazing group of people who I admire for their ability to recognize their social responsibility to engage and help communities.
By far my favorite part of the trip was going to an elementary school during the afternoon. My group went to Sand-Hill Venable Elementary School where we got to teach three groups of children about nutrition, food groups and the importance of a well-balanced meal. I remember being very hesitant about being with children who had so much energy after school. I didn’t feel like we were going to make a difference with children who had little attention span, but we actually did. The kids I sat next to told me about how they loved drinking milk, eating vegetables, and fruits because it would make them strong. They kept asking for more carrots on their plates. They ran up to me asking for piggyback rides and took my phone navigating their way through the camera and my phone’s apps. Their innocence and eagerness to learn from five college students made me very hopeful for the future. Not only that, they knew their way around technology and knew a lot more fruits and vegetables than I did when I was their age. A lot of kids gave me hugs before I left. Two boys gave me Lego toys that they built for me and asked if I would keep it forever. A girl gave me a clump of yellow Play-Doh that I will be taking home to remember how much I loved spending my day in the lenses of children who show so much potential.