We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.
striking are his words. true are his words. change begins with you, and you alone. on every single humanly level possible. everything else is just a series of excuses.
Monday Night Mission was introduced to me by my best friend's sister. when she described it to me, i knew instantly that's what i wanted to experience. it was the kind of hands on charity work that i experienced growing up with my family. i wanted to be a part of that community. i wanted to see what it was about. i even contacted Mel, MNM's dedicated leader, and asked plenty of questions. but i never showed up. i knew part of my change was going after my heart and trying to rediscover what was important to me. i knew that volunteering and giving back to those in need in MY community was a large part of that. i knew that i wanted to see change and i wanted to see that what i gave affected someone. instant gratification, i suppose. i always donated money and (insert items of need here) to support whatever cause was thrown my way but i always had that uneasy feeling of wondering where all of it ended up. sometimes we fixate on problems far far away, but what about those in need here, living under our noses and not being taken care of? those that are starving, sleeping on the streets, or put through sex trafficking, right down the street from the comforts of our homes? i think about these things all the time and what do i do? i lamented the idea but i never did anything about it. because there were (what i thought then) BIGGER PROBLEMS in MY LIFE. oh dear, such a typical egotistical human i am sometimes.
but fate intervened. i came out of whatever fog i was in, brought myself back to reality and dug deep. i was ready to face the world again. and what happens? i get a text from Mel asking if i was still interested in volunteering. initially i thought oh crap, he's sick of my bullish*t and wants me to stop asking questions if im not going to follow through. but he genuinely was reaching out because he needed extra hands. so i said i'll be there Friday. i was still a bit skeptical to go alone so i mass texted my family to see if anyone wanted to join me. and lo and behold, everyone who didnt have prior engagements replied yes. i went to my very first Monday Night Mission as a family outing, nine of us. i couldnt have felt more supported.
after reluctantly parking in a Burger King parking lot, the group's meeting point, and seeing NO ONE outside, i walked around and met a girl who was there for the first time as well. eventually we walked inside and met the rest of the volunteers. everyone was so genuinely nice and seemed to have radiated hope. little by little all these food items materialized: bread, peanut butter, jam, fruits, water, ham&cheese sandwiches, etc. we got started on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the default meal the group prepares for their daily offerings. this was the time to make friends get to know some of the fellow volunteers. there were many regulars and some, like us, were there for the first time. I dont quite remember how many sandwiches were made that day but i remember thinking it was alot. little did i know, sometimes it's barely enough.
after the sandwich making session, the volunteers gather round and Mel gives us a little background of how it all started and what his simple aspirations were for doing this: To feed the less fortunate of Skid Row who are unable to find housing or turned away from shelters. we also ask for each of their names and ask that you return a greeting of "Hi insert name here" as these people don't have many moments of being recognized as an individual. let's give them that moment to feel HUMAN, not a reject or outcast of society. it was such a simple concept. it just made sense to me. he then does a rundown of the game plan. we carpool over to Skid Row. stay together as a group. new volunteers will be rotated to hand out food. people are appointed positions to be lookout on the perimeters, greeters at the line, etc. i was surprised at how organized all of it was, even more surprised that when we arrived at our location, a neat line was already formed and waiting and most of all, at how safe it all felt. we handed out burritos, ham and turkey sandwiches, oranges, bananas, water, pb&js until it was all gone. All the new volunteers were taken on a brief walking tour of Skid Row. first stopping in at the courtyard of the Midnight Mission where a good amount of people were sacked up in their sleeping bags and were lucky enough for a sleeping spot in an enclosed area. im assuming they dont want to lose that precious space so we handed out (or literally tossed) the bags of pb&j to them. once the tour was over, we all headed back to the Burger King Parking lot.
there we regrouped and people were given the chance to voice their thoughts on the experience. i remembered thanking my family for coming out with me and thanking Mel for going after such a simple vision and continuing to be a strong and dedicated leader of MNM. we took a group picture and we said our goodbyes..
but fate intervened. i came out of whatever fog i was in, brought myself back to reality and dug deep. i was ready to face the world again. and what happens? i get a text from Mel asking if i was still interested in volunteering. initially i thought oh crap, he's sick of my bullish*t and wants me to stop asking questions if im not going to follow through. but he genuinely was reaching out because he needed extra hands. so i said i'll be there Friday. i was still a bit skeptical to go alone so i mass texted my family to see if anyone wanted to join me. and lo and behold, everyone who didnt have prior engagements replied yes. i went to my very first Monday Night Mission as a family outing, nine of us. i couldnt have felt more supported.
after reluctantly parking in a Burger King parking lot, the group's meeting point, and seeing NO ONE outside, i walked around and met a girl who was there for the first time as well. eventually we walked inside and met the rest of the volunteers. everyone was so genuinely nice and seemed to have radiated hope. little by little all these food items materialized: bread, peanut butter, jam, fruits, water, ham&cheese sandwiches, etc. we got started on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the default meal the group prepares for their daily offerings. this was the time to make friends get to know some of the fellow volunteers. there were many regulars and some, like us, were there for the first time. I dont quite remember how many sandwiches were made that day but i remember thinking it was alot. little did i know, sometimes it's barely enough.
after the sandwich making session, the volunteers gather round and Mel gives us a little background of how it all started and what his simple aspirations were for doing this: To feed the less fortunate of Skid Row who are unable to find housing or turned away from shelters. we also ask for each of their names and ask that you return a greeting of "Hi insert name here" as these people don't have many moments of being recognized as an individual. let's give them that moment to feel HUMAN, not a reject or outcast of society. it was such a simple concept. it just made sense to me. he then does a rundown of the game plan. we carpool over to Skid Row. stay together as a group. new volunteers will be rotated to hand out food. people are appointed positions to be lookout on the perimeters, greeters at the line, etc. i was surprised at how organized all of it was, even more surprised that when we arrived at our location, a neat line was already formed and waiting and most of all, at how safe it all felt. we handed out burritos, ham and turkey sandwiches, oranges, bananas, water, pb&js until it was all gone. All the new volunteers were taken on a brief walking tour of Skid Row. first stopping in at the courtyard of the Midnight Mission where a good amount of people were sacked up in their sleeping bags and were lucky enough for a sleeping spot in an enclosed area. im assuming they dont want to lose that precious space so we handed out (or literally tossed) the bags of pb&j to them. once the tour was over, we all headed back to the Burger King Parking lot.
there we regrouped and people were given the chance to voice their thoughts on the experience. i remembered thanking my family for coming out with me and thanking Mel for going after such a simple vision and continuing to be a strong and dedicated leader of MNM. we took a group picture and we said our goodbyes..
Monday Night Mission is a non-registered and non-profit organization. they dont accept monetary donations and operate solely on volunteers and donations of foods and other basic necessities. without their army of volunteers, they cant run. without donations, they wont have any meals to hand out. so ask yourself, can i spare a couple hours to help? if not, can i somehow donate a couple loaves of bread to those whose next meal is an uncertainty? the group meets every Monday through Friday at 7:30pm at this Burger King parking lot in downtown Los Angeles. see more information at the Monday Night Mission Facebook page. they operate solely by word of mouth and social networks. or contact me if you want to donate something when i go. or better yet, let's go together?
