President Rains

     It's always fun to see if new volunteers are going to show up, and what experiences they can share with all of us volunteering with the Las Vegas Catholic Worker. We get new ideas and points of view from every volunteer and even from the many people we help out in the lines every morning. Some ideas can inspire and challenge us to want to do more, volunteer more often, come up with different ways to help others in our daily lives. But, the best thing about the ideas shared between volunteers is simply that, being able to hare our thoughts and opinions on things and feel like someone is actually listening, and that we can make a difference.

     This week's entry is from Phi Theta Kappa's Alpha Xi Beta's very own President Dustin Rains. He has done more volunteer work throughout his life than I hav room to write about in this blog entry. He strives to make a difference in the world, and in his community.

    

Were you meant to be a teacher? Were you meant to be a doctor? Were you meant to go to college? All of these decisions come back to the core point of having different opportunities. Some people are blessed with multiple opportunities in their lifetime; some don’t have it that easy.

Not everyone chooses to be homeless. People become homeless because of unemployment, death in the family or even a mental instability.

I’ve only attended Soup & a Smile on two occasions, each of them very different. As you arrive to the vacant lot on G Street and McWilliams, you start to wonder about each of the stories these folks have. What has happened to each of them? Why are they living on the streets? Is there an opportunity that you could lead them to?

I like the idea of Catholic Worker giving food to the homeless but I think the meals should be given along with other types of help.

Each day, Wednesday through Saturday, they see the same faces of people lining up for a good meal. If we continue to provide food without adding something to it, why would they ever change or turn their lives around? They have no reason to go and get a GED or apply for various programs if they aren’t given an incentive to do so.

My suggestion to Catholic Worker is to give out a hot meal every day. I’d be glad to help as much as I can. One morning a week before the meal, make them attend an information session on how to prepare the perfect resume or how to apply for different services they can qualify for and then provide them a great meal.

If people are forced to gain knowledge before they get a meal, will they show up and help themselves or will they allow themselves to starve?



You can't see his face, but thats Dustin handing out bags of candy.