Help others selflessly

Early one morning a few days before my 15th birthday I woke up to my little brother banging on my room door. When I finally awoke I realized that I was getting late for the Meals on Wheels service project that I had volunteered for earlier that week. I got out of bed and got dressed not happy about the fact that I had to wake up at 6 am on a Saturday morning. When we went to the meeting station to pick up the food I was the designated deliverer, this was the first time that I could actually get out of the car instead of just sitting there and making the bags. I was never much of a fan of Meals on Wheels because of the amount of work and the running around. Also not to mention that some of the places that we went to deliver food were not the greatest places.

The journey finally started we went to the first stop and I got down from the car this person’s meal was an apple, with chicken mashed potatoes and a small juice box. I dropped off the food and the gentleman thanked me for bringing his first meal today. Then at the next stop I was finally awake we dropped off yet another meal. At this point I was starting to like the experience mainly because of the people who I was with and listening to how happy they were, but still something within me prevented me from feeling the same happiness that they felt. There was something bothering me, I decided to ignore it the feeling was probably just the birthday blues. I went along with them doing my duties, finishing today would be my last day so I can finish my service learning knowing that seemed to cheer me up a bit, but the feeling still remained in my heart.

On the day of my birthday I woke up and went shopping, I luckily got all the things that I wanted. After shopping we went to Starbucks and I bought the biggest coffee, half way through I was full and threw it away. Though today was my birthday and I got everything that I wanted I still did not feel content. When we got home I went and played with all the new stuff I had got and called all my friends to tell them about my new cell phone. We went out to pizza that night for dinner with the full family. After dinner my cousins wanted to go and get a movie so we can watch it and then have cake and ice cream.

When we reached Hollywood video the store was closed, we then decided it would be nice to walk around and enjoy this beautiful summer day. This day so far has not been beautiful there is something still missing in my heart. When we were about to leave one of my cousin’s cars started to smoke, the car became impossible to drive, we called and needed to wait for AAA. As we waited a gentleman that was lying on a bench nearby came up to us and asked for money. Everyone told him we didn’t have any money but then he started telling us a story about, why he was out there and his experiences. I felt bad for him especially since, I had just wasted lots of money just for my birthday without a second thought. This guy just needed some food and water and a few dollars to get back to his family. I felt that we needed to help him out, so I went to Safeway and bought him some food and water, we had some blankets in the car so we gave him those and then gave him a few dollars so he could catch the bus in the morning to find his family. AAA finally arrived to take the car away, and we wished the guy good luck in finding his family. I finally felt better and felt good on my birthday, I had just helped someone out not because I needed to or because I had to reach so many hours or to get my name in the news paper but out of the goodness of my heart and that was the best feeling in the world. After this experience I was a changed man, instead of doing things for recognition or because I have to, I now know that I believe it is a lot better and more fulfilling to help people selflessly.