Friday, March 16, 2018

Posted by: Amanda Lillian Ramirez

The local mission trip is comprised of sophomores, juniors and seniors. Together we have collaborated to aid in the Florence Fuller Center and Boca Helping Hands as volunteers. Florence Fuller is a day care for low income families. These children have many emotional issues due to a variety of issues. As a result teachers need to have an iron fist and high energy when managing the fights, tantrums, attitudes, profanity and other disciplinary needs. That's where we come in. For three hours we volunteer in the classrooms with babies, toddlers and children helping teachers with anything they would like aid with. They are very appreciative since most of the rooms are filled to maximum capacity. Not only do they struggle in controlling and disciplining the classroom, which is often very high energy, but they also struggle with the parents who at times bring in their children sick and say they are not. Florence Fuller proved to be an insightful experience because it broadened our view of the world and brought us out of our "Boca Bubble".  


The second place we have been volunteering at is Boca helping hands- a community-based 501(c)(3) food pantry which delivers brown bags filled with foods as a supplement to low income families. Each family receives a total of how many people in the family per month. For instance a family of five could take a maximum of five bags per month. They receive the food to donate from individuals like you, churches, and grocery stores. Boca helping hands has a handful, 5-10 employees and runs on volunteer power, without them they would not be able to to finish distribution foods to all the families in need. That's when we come in. Our crew of seven were able to fill 208 bags with a combination of: cereal, tomatoes, fruits, vegetables, and pastries in 1 and a half hours. To top all of this off we were able to fill an entire moving truck full of food for families in need! Thanks to all who have been praying for us, looking forward to posting again soon.