Are you kidding me?

This Saturday I visited my Aunt Renee in Newark. She has been on welfare for 13 years. Since being on Welfare doesn't just "hand you free money," you have to volunteer for community service. The Salvation Army is an organization that provides help to all people who are going through financial crisis'. This is where she volunteers the most.  People come from all over the TriCity area for this help. The Salvation Army provides items from food to clothing up to gifts for major holidays.  My aunt was in charge of keeping inventory. Any new items that were donated recently had to be put on a list and put in a stock room.  I had to hang up clothes, some that smelled really disgusting.  I probably hung up around 200 clothes by myself.  Around half of them had stains on parts where there really shouldn't be stains.  I was really uncomfortable with doing this task.  I didn't feel like the people donating the items were really donating them because they felt like they were doing a good deed.  I felt like they were just trying to clean up around their house or something.  All the stuff donated was really worn out.  If I were to donate things to the Salvation Army, I would at least make sure that the clothes were in better condition than how I saw them.  The people volunteering with me were really appreciative for all the things donated.  There weren't many people that came in to look for clothes or toys but they were looking for food for their family.  The Salvation Army had bags full of fresh produce, bread, canned goods, and juices.  Around 5 groups of people came in while I was volunteering.  About 2 groups of people had children with them.  The children actually passed up the toys we had on display.  I was shocked, but the toys were in poor condition.  I just wish that people would donate better looking toys.  
After I was finished hanging up clothes, my aunt had me clean tables.  I was kind of upset about it because I thought I was going to be continuously doing something that can help someone except cleaning stupid tables.  The tables weren't even dirty! My aunt told me that during the summer, they throw events to try to get people to donate to the organization.  One event was Bingo.  It sounded like it was a lot of fun.  Hopefully when this event happens I'll be there to either play or help advertise the game.  I'm kind of excited to volunteer again but I'm also hesitant because I really do not want to be stuck cleaning already clean tables.  


The social issue is important because there are millions of people in the US alone that are having a hard time financially and they depend on organizations like this to support their family and themselves.  Organizations like this are everywhere.  People appreciate all the help they can get when they're going through rough times.  Help with food and clothing can really save a few bucks in their pocket and with that money, they can be able to pay off bills and maybe save up for some luxury items for their whole family to enjoy.