VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
What some recent volunteers said about their experience
DAISY
Tucker Foundation
Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH
I loved being able to help out and talk to the clients. Thank you for having such a wonderful center! Thank you for being so kind and welcoming. It was a great experience! I would definitely come back! Thank you for this chance to learn and grow.
Dear St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church:
Fourteen teens and three adults from the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg volunteered at Charlie’s Place last month. We were very impressed with the caring and the high-quality food provided to the clientele of Charlie’s Place. We adults were especially impressed by the efforts made to ensure that the volunteers learned from the experience.
The breakfast was slower and more deliberate than we were accustomed to from our volunteer experiences, and you insisted that the volunteers spend time talking to clients. From our conversations, it was clear that people coming appreciated both the quality food and a chance to sit for awhile in a safe, pleasant, welcoming place.
After the breakfast, Mr. Reggie spoke in the chapel to the volunteers, most of whom were teens. He spoke about his personal history; the need for each of us to make choices; and the consequences of good and bad choices.
After we left, I asked the teens what they thought of his talk. Much to my surprise, they were appreciative of the fact that he shared information about his bad choices to illustrate why the teens need to be careful making choices and in selecting their friends and colleagues. Remarkably, these teens, who pride themselves on being cynical, willingly absorbed Mr. Jones’ message.
Thank you for the program you are providing both for adults in need of nutrition and a safe and friendly place, as well as for the chance for relatively affluent volunteers to benefit from making connections as fellow human beings in a safe situation with people in need.
PETER ADAMS
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
NIKO
Slovenia Study Abroad
Hello, Mr. Jones!
Just wanted to say hello and thank you in the name of a small group of young leaders from Central Europe who you gave a chance to visit your place last month. It made a big impact on them and it is my belief that this visit, together with another one to "Stop Hunger Now" in Raleigh, NC, will encourage them to work on this topic in their local communities.
Altogether, we spent three fantastic weeks in the USA, full of impressions, new knowledge and useful information for the future. And your goodwill to show them a glimpse of DC they wouldn't have seen otherwise, enriched theirs (and mine, of course) experience in the States.
Thank you again. I wish you good work in the future and sincerely hope I get a chance to visit your noble place again some day.
Best wishes and many greetings from Slovenia.
Want to add your testimonial? Email Ellen Silva.
Recent volunteers from the British International School of Washington
