Ebenezer Park Apartments is an apartment complex which houses older people, and is located in midtown Minneapolis. My first day of volunteering at this location as a meal server was really good.
I had to walk 5-6 blocks from the bus stop before I could reach the location. However, the tiredness of a long walk was vanished when I received a warm welcome from the receptionist and the volunteer coordinator, Sally Newbury. I realized how passionate they are about serving the older residents and making their stay even better. Sally took my orientation and interview, and told me about the tasks, rules, requirements and other things expected out of me as a volunteer in their organization. She also introduced me to David, who works as a chef in the complex and with whom I would be working for the rest of the semester. Soon, it was time for food to be served in the dining hall. Older residents started occupying the chairs and tables in the room. All of them were very happy, and were chatting with each other. This was really motivating for me as they were so old but still they were trying to live their lives to the fullest. At first I had thought that they might show resentment to me because I am an outsider to them. But, to my surprise all of the residents were very friendly to me. They were very curious to know about me, my culture, my country and the big transition of studying in a new place. In fact, I really enjoyed the conversations I had with some of them while I was serving food to them.
I really enjoyed volunteering at the complex. I hope to learn a lot from these experiences which would help me become a better individual.
