On Friday September 23rd, I went to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission with Stockon University’s Circle K Club. The Atlantic City Rescue Mission was founded in 1964, and today provides shelter, programs, and hot meals to homeless people in the area. They also provide meals to the general public suffering from poverty.
On my way there with three other girls from Circle K, I wasn’t very sure what to expect. It was my first time volunteering at a homeless shelter. When we got inside the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, I was immediately impressed. The staff was extremely welcoming and put us to work right away. They started us off by having us make a salad to go along with dinner that night. Two of us cut peppers, and the other two cut up lettuce. It was the biggest salad bowl I had ever seen! Once we were done preparing the salad, we were sent up to the front of the kitchen to get ready to serve meals.
Dinner that Friday night was rice, chicken, and gravy. Along with this was our salad sides. The Rescue Mission also had pastries and other snacks for the tenants and general public to grab as well. We made the plates together, in an assembly line fashion. First, the male residents were served, then the female residents, and then dinner was open to the general public.
One thing that stood out to me were the miss matched plates and bowls the meals were served on. All of the different dishes donated just showed to me how many people put this amazing center together and contributed to helping feed so many people. Stockton’s participation at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission is something that I am looking forward to doing again!