Day One

Monday, August 2012-Today was our first day volunteering in the community, and I felt that we accomplished a lot and became closer as a team. Our busy day began with an early start and our first breakfast at Moravian (It was yummy!). After breakfast, we walked to the Bethlehem YMCA to truly begin the 1742 Experience. As we walked, I think we all felt a mixture of emotions; we were excited and nervous to begin our first service project as Moravian students, and we were curious as to how well we would work as a team. When we arrived, we were told that we would be repainting wall designs with different colors. At first, the task seemed daunting, and we scattered to find an individual task to pursue. However, we quickly recognized the importance of working as a team, and we decided to work in groups; some of us placed painting tape on the walls, while others began painting. When it was time to break for lunch, I think we all were impressed with how much we accomplished in so little time. We left the YMCA for the day and after lunch, we walked to New Bethany Ministries. At this point, we split into two groups. Half of us went to the warehouse, and the other half remained in the food pantry to package and organize the food. My group went to the warehouse, where there were three huge bins of food. We quickly grabbed boxes and began removing the food from the bins. Although a few of us nearly fell into the bins trying to reach the food resting at the very bottom, we managed to perform the task efficiently. When we returned to the pantry with the boxes, we had to take each individual item out of  every box and place it on the correct shelf and in the correct spot. Though we were given "a tour" of the pantry's shelves, it was challenging to find the right spot for each item, and I bumped into numerous people while traversing through the narrow aisles. After all the items were organized, we left New Bethany Ministries with a rewarding feeling knowing that we had helped the food bank and made a difference in our new community. Although the first day was a bustling and exhausting one for all of us, we weren't too tired for a movie night after dinner!

Kayla