by Meghan Chase

Created on: September 15, 2010

It all started with a train trip to downtown Chicago around Christmastime last year.  My husband and I took our kids to the city so that they could see all of the Christmas decorations and eat some world-class pizza.  The kids were awed by the large buildings and moving holiday window displays but all of that was overshadowed when they saw the number of people sitting on the streets with signs about being homeless and hungry.  At the ages of 8 and 9, I don't think that either of them had ever really encountered homelessness before.  Sure, it had been a dinner table topic on more than one occasion when we would discuss all of the blessings we had that we should be thankful for, but it had never been truly real to them until that moment.  They wanted to stop and give money to each person we saw.  They even gave away their pizza leftovers from lunch.

For months after we returned from our trip, our youngest child kept asking me what we could do for homeless people.  She told me over and over again that she wanted to help.  It took me too long, but I finally listened to her.  I signed our family up to volunteer at a local shelter for men with substance abuse problems.  This past Saturday we spent a few hours at the shelter making up beds, folding towels and scrubs and joining the men for lunch and chapel services.  Those few hours really opened our eyes to the reality of homelessness.  It can happen to anyone.  It doesn't just strike the people of our stereotypes or preconceived notions.  There was also another result from our visit to the shelter that I had not anticipated; it seems to have given our children a passion for serving others.  As soon as we were back in our car that afternoon, they all asked when we were going to volunteer at the shelter again.  That moment made me very proud to be the mother of such great kids. 

Volunteering together as a family has given us the opportunity to serve others while growing closer to one another.  In the day and age of the “me” generation, it's a great chance to show our kids that it takes a community to make the world a better place to live in.  Over the next few weeks we've signed up to volunteer a few more times and I think that we will continue to learn and grow together while we serve our community.  We owe our youngest child thanks, for pushing us to move outside of our comfort zone and help others.  It's an amazing journey that she has started us on, one that will hopefully never come to an end! 

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