SAYA’s Desi Young Women Serve Meals and Groceries to Neighbors at the Masbia Soup Kitchen in Rego Park

BY LATISHA, GRADE 11

I went to the soup kitchen with about 20 other girls. When I got there, it was very crowded, and I was frantically being sent upstairs and down. Confused, not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to start distributing bags of food to people. As I gave each person their own bag full of food, they had the brightest smiles on their faces. It made me feel so happy to see these smiles because I knew that I was doing something good. They looked like normal people that I see everyday; some even looked like me. This experience helped with my leadership skills as well as my patience. The soup kitchen was very crowded and loud, but the experience was fun and different. I can't wait to go back, because not only did I help people, they helped me as well. 

BY ISABELLE, GRADE 11

I had a great experience at the soup kitchen. Initially, I felt kind of upset because the person in charge kept telling us to work faster. However, by the end, I started to enjoy myself more mostly because we were working faster and more efficiently. I realized that in the beginning, I was scared to shout the orders because I did not want to be disrespectful. But, by the end, I was helping with the groceries while shouting the orders so it could be faster.