Category: Compassion Cells

On September 10th, I, Angel Castillo, had the privilege of working with Be The Cause, alongside some of my fellow students from Coral Gables Senior High School: Anoop Bhatt, Jorge Valero, Jorge Beltran, Annalays Garcia, and Forest Neal. Our project was to go to the local Camillus House branch here in Miami to assist in feeding the homeless and maintaining the dining area for them.

I can honestly say I have not had an experience more rewarding than this before. My fellow students and I were able to fully grasp how we were not simply giving them food, but also a smiling face, a kind word, perhaps a sense of dignity in that they can have a place to sit down and eat a proper meal. We took the time to wrap silverware in napkins for them to use, we made sure that the tables were immaculately clean for them, that they ALWAYS had a full pitcher of water, and that everything was to their liking, because they deserved it.

That day I was wearing my Coral Gables Senior High t-shirt, and a few of the people we served would make comments about how either they, or someone they knew went there, which started some friendly conversation between them and I. As I kept talking with all of these different cases, watching them smile as we talked about the most simple things, our function as friends, and not just servers became more apparent to me. The appreciation on some of the people’s faces as we did simple things such as handing them a tray and asking “how are you today, sir?” or sitting next to them and asking them if they’re enjoying their food was all that was necessary to show us that efforts such as these to reach out to those less fortunate than us are most definitely worthwhile.

The project was not only a valuable Lose Weight Exercise in generosity, but also a lesson in cooperation, as we had to learn to properly organize ourself to make sure the food was served quickly and efficiently. We were fortunate to have the more experienced Camillus House staff guiding us each and every step of the way so that we performed our duties properly.

Speaking personally, this particular project opened up my eyes to the magnitude of the homeless problem here in Miami, as I honestly did not have a good idea before. To see people coming through the lines multiple times, filling their bags with the food we give them, so that way they could hope to have some sort of supply for a period of time, people so lucky just to get their hands on a chicken wing, young, old, of any and all races, was heartwrenching. It’s true that sometimes to be willing to solve a problem you have to get to see the problem for yourself, and that’s what happened to me. After that Saturday I have become much more willing to work with Be The Cause to attempt and make some sort of difference in these people’s lives for the better.

I had such a great experience at this Compassion Cell that I have to say something. This Compassion Cell went down in the parking lot of the Central City Community Center in LA’s South Central neighborhood. The purpose of the Health Fair was manifold, but the two obvious ones were for Be The Cause to reach out to the local community and, secondly, to publicize the health care services available to South Central residents free of charge. Almost anyone can visit the clinic, no questions asked, and to my understanding with or without American citizenship. Yes, health care is a human right.

I arrived late with a fellow volunteer, and we felt bad about that. I decided I had no real excuse to not have arrived at 9 o’clock like the other volunteers. At least, I comforted myself, we made it and chances are we’re staying till the end–glass half full? Once there, everything just fell into place.

There were a few booths staffed by organizations working with the same target population, mothers-to-be and new mothers from low-income or underserved communities, I’m guessing, in the greater LA area. There was the Central City mobile clinic providing diabetes screenings and blood pressure tests. There were food, face-painting, toys, books, literature touching on alcoholism to breastfeeding to HIV/AIDS, and…people! There were moments when the fact that volunteers outnumbered visitors was wanting, but, you know what, the whole event was really a beautiful thing. Some visitors expressed heartfelt thanks and others who didn’t come but were given a flyer acknowledged our efforts.

Because the Health Fair was done in service to others, it was a success. If anyone (because of our flyer/because of our presence/because of their visit to the Health Fair/because of their merely driving by and seeing the banner…) goes back to Central City for a check-up, then our service has acquired a life of its own–we breathed life into our service. It’s service that can residually effect positive changes even after the event has happened and the volunteers are out of sight.