Loaves & Fishes

Loaves and Fishes of Kalamazoo is a charitable food distribution center. They were founded in 1982 and have been serving the needs of the county for over three decades. Loaves and fishes was started by a group of churches. Their mission is to feed the hungry of Kalamazoo and be accountable with what they have. I think Loaves and Fishes does a great service to the hungry families of Kalamazoo. Initially I assumed that this organization was still church sponsored. I was wrong and that is not the case. In addition to spreading the gospel the church has an obligation to help the poor and needy. So when I read the website I linked it to its founding and thought to myself "oh good churches doing what they are supposed to do, cool, check in box." Wrong! I was blown away to find out that Loaves and Fishes went nonprofit some time ago and operates off of the donations of the community. I am surprised at the local people and local business' generosity to their city. The facility that I visited was fairly new. While I am not an architect or engineer or even construction worker I assume this facility cost several million dollars. And it is just one of many facilities. That means that the people of Kalamazoo County collectively and despite their many different beliefs and experiences have a heart for the starving in our community. I was also impressed at what lengths Loaves and Fishes goes through to make their clients feel good and not ashamed. I am overall impressed and proud of my city from this experience. I am a relatively conservative man. That being said I am not a fan of government. Realistically I am slowly disliking both political parties more and more every day. I think our political system on all fronts is becoming corrupt and unsuitable. That being said I appreciate a community taking care of its own with little to no government assistance. I am not trying to demonize government welfare programs I am simply staying that in my limited knowledge I think when people pull together and do good for their common man that is the best form of welfare we can hope for. I would personally like to see or become more aware of more organizations such as this one. I did not realize the depth and magnitude of hunger in Kalamazoo. I am young and have a limited amount of wisdom. So, I struggle with where I stand on certain issues. I love my country and am a patriot. That being said it troubles me that one of the greatest countries in the world would have such a real struggle with hunger. That one of the richest countries in history cant seem to get it right. It is both reflective of our political system and our culture. To hear that many young children rely on schools for their meals upsets me and I don't even know who to be mad at about it. All that being said, there is a great deal of responsibility on us as individuals to do something with that information. I am not sure what, I am merely talking out loud. I could volunteer more than I already do of course that is always an option. This whole experience just reminds me why I want to become a teacher. Money comes and goes and obviously is not why people go into teaching. I want to be a teacher to serve my community and the children in it and all that that entails. So I guess for me that's a main goal and it is what I do from now until then and in the future.