Over the summer, my friend and I participated in a community service program that required us to spend the day in at a soup kitchen. Whn I heard this I was not very happy. I did not want to spend one of my warm summer days in a small kitchen serving people food, but I decided to go anyway. My friend and I and a few other teenagers arrived at the kitchen early in the morning. We served the people breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When I first started to serve the food, I began to realize and appreciate how lucky I was. These people were so grateful to us. They accepted the food without complaints. When I finished serving the food to the people, I sat down and talked to them. They were very friendly and so excited to have someone to talk to. I talked with them and played chess, checkers and cards.

I believe that going to that soup kitchen was the most productive thing that I did last summer because not only was I helping other people, I was also helping myself realize how lucky I really am. It was a wonderful experience and I encourage everyone to take one day out of their summer and volunteer at a soup kitchen because I believe it is an experience that will change

the way you look at your life. fl