People Helping to Shape the World, One Outreach Center at a Time (Revised)

            Personal experience and social change run hand-in-hand.  I define personal experience as the way that people treat others and the respect that they have for each other, despite their situations or their backgrounds.  In order for social change to occur, people need to work hard, and sacrifice some of the luxuries in their lives for others that are not as fortunate as themselves.  By recognizing that everyone is human and should be treated equally, the world will become a more peaceful and happy place to live.  The St. John’s/St. Ann’s outreach center epitomizes social change by giving the people that depend on it to live all the luxuries that they can under the circumstances that they are under. 

            One of the main things that the St. John’s/St. Ann’s outreach center acts as is a local food bank.  The people who live within the southern region of Albany are allowed to come to the food pantry as long as they show a proof of address within 30 days.  One of the ways that the outreach center tries to help the people who go to the center, besides the obvious fact of giving them food, is to let the customers pick their own food like they were in a grocery store.  This gives those who are less fortunate who come to the center for food feel like they have some freedom in the choices that they make for themselves and for their families.  This is just one of many things that the St. John’s/ St. Ann’s outreach center does for its constituents.

              Another thing that the outreach center does for its people is called the “Welcome Table”.  This is a meal that is offered on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  Instead of having the customers come and grab the food that they want and sit down, the outreach center acts as its own restaurant.  There are waiters/waitresses, people order what they want, and they are not forced out at any time.  This gives the outreach center’s people the sense of freedom and happiness because most of the people who come to the center cannot afford to go to a restaurant and eat a meal.

            Social change is an important part of the world we live in today.  Without the people that work towards the common goal of making the world we live in a better place, we would not be as well off as we are.  The extra lengths that the people who volunteer at the St. John’s/St. Ann’s outreach center take to make the people they serve happier and free makes all the difference in the world.  If there were more people like the volunteers at the outreach center in the world today, the world would be a much better, understanding, and peaceful place to be.