Community Service

On Sunday, February 26th I participated in the Polar Plunge at Fox Lake. In order to participate in this event you needed to raise at least $75; I raised $100 to donate to the Special Olympics. When I first walked in I was excited to see all the different people that were obviously so spirited about the event. We waited a couple hours for them to set up the water for us to jump into. They needed to cut away the ice ontop of the water, yet it kept freezing over again. When I heard this, it made me hesitate, but I jumped anyway. The Patriot Plungers was the first group, after the costume winners, to jump into the freezing water. I was excited to be doing such a crazy thing for a good cause. Once we jumped into the water, the cold didnt actually hit until i ran out. Not to mention I ran out barefoot. It was such a fun experience and though it was freezing I would do it again.
On Tuesday, February 28th I went to the St. Joseph's Soup Kitchen in Chicago. I didnt know what to expect going into it. I had volunteered at a soup kitchen before, but it was a completely different experience. At this soup kitchen, I interacted much more with the people that came in. I served them their soup and it was so nice to hear how grateful they were. I couldn't get a smile off of my face the whole time because it just felt so great seeing all those people have a good meal. There were a few children there, and seeing that was so sad. One little girl ran up to me and was playing around with me. It was lifechanging to see this little girl stuck in a hard situation, but still so happy and always smiling. I spoke with several people and they were so caring and sweet. It defnitely lifted my spirits that  they made the best of their situation by being so nice and grateful. I loved this trip so much. These kinds of things broaden your view of the world and allow you to be so grateful for everything you have.