In Florida they give a merit scholarship for seventy five hours of service and it makes me sick to see children at these projects with total disregard; only caring about themselves and their fancy phones. That may have been why visiting the Hubbard House preparing a meal, for the families of patients in the hospital, felt so rewarding. The fellow teens were focused on helping these wonderful people.
I met a kid and him and I cleaned the workout room in the establishment while my younger brother, Colby, and another volunteer cleaned the bathrooms. After the cleaning was done we washed our hands and began cooking and setting up the two large, rectangular tables with place-mats, forks, spoons and napkins.
Serving the spaghetti and meatballs was amazing we were servers while guests at the Hubbard House sat down for their meals. We had to ask them their drinks and if they wanted extra meatballs, pasta or a dessert.
I met wonderful young twenty year old kids who were kind enough to to thank all of our volunteers frequently and were happy everytime we asked them what they wanted.
The most influential guests to me personally were a couple who had a young two year old son in the hospital in critical condition. Despite the bags under their eyes and tears dried on their sad faces they still smiled and thanked all of the volunteers several times for cooking. Who knew such a simply task could make such a large impact on somebody's day? The wife told me that she had done volunteering like this before but never knew how much it truly help those on the other end of the kitchen. Me and the other volunteers told her we hoped her son would be okay and we wrapped her some food to go, so her and her husband could eat up in their room.
Volunteering at the Hubbard house was a truly remarkable, rewarding, feel good experience that I have never felt before. It really is true that volunteering helps you as much as, if not more, than the people you are aiding.