By Hannah Hecht–Every year, Morningside’s chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, an upper-classman honor society, puts together an event that involves nearly two-thirds of the school. This year, more than 800 students went “Into the Streets” October 2 to donate about three hours of their time to the local community.
This was my third time volunteering with “Into the Streets.” At 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, I packed into the HPER center with tons of other students, faculty, and staff. Once we received our assignment, I hopped into cars with the rest of the women’s swim team and we drove downtown to the Mission of the Messiah referral center.
Our group met up with Pastor Lil Johnston, director of the Mission of the Messiah thrift store, in front of what looked like an old warehouse. She explained to us that the warehouse used to be a car dealership and that it now holds all of the extra goods and donations for the thrift store. The Mission of the Messiah sells donations at its thrift store and also donates items to needy families throughout the area.
When we first got there, the warehouse was packed to the brim with what looked like piles of junk. Old mattresses, furniture, televisions, trash bags of donations. Boxes upon boxes lined the walls. There were even a couple of naked mannequins in the corner.
Pastor Lil directed the 12 of us to split up into different tasks: moving boxes, folding sheets, or organizing furniture. I started off moving couches and chairs to look a little less like a junkyard and more like Nebraska Furniture Mart.
A lot of the furniture had actually come from the college dorms, which was a pleasant surprise. It was really cool to know that the same couches and tables that I spent my freshman year playing cards on were going to be put to good use in the house of someone who needs them.
Through the morning, we bonded as a team by joking, laughing, and helping out a program that serves the needy. The experience was actually a lot of fun. It was satisfying to see the warehouse go from junky to organized over the course of just a few hours.
It’s amazing to think of the difference the college made over the course of the morning. The twelve of us were able to organize an entire warehouse, and there were 788 other Morningsiders out in the community changing lives. It was a very satisfying experience.
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