By Ronda-Boussina G., Grade 10 student
Two things I will always enjoy in my life are food and helping others, so when there was an opportunity involving the two I was all in. Pasta Sunday is the third Sunday of every month where students are able to come together and create bagged lunches for those in need. This past Sunday, January 15, 2023 included myself, Noah H., Louis M-B., Colette V., and Yuna. Volunteering with friends is always a special thing as memories are created, fellowship is shared, and friendships are solidified. Pasta Sunday was no different.
We arrived at the secondary campus around 10:00 Sunday morning to begin preparing the lunch bags and the environment was amazing. In these bags were juice boxes, a Fruit-to-Go, a chickpea and sausage sandwich and a Welch’s snack. During the bagging process there was music, laughs and jokes, and as time flew by we had bagged 125 lunches. This time in all the fun, Mrs. Lund forgot to add in the muffins and cookies!
After loading up the van we had spare time on our hands so we decided on a Starbucks run which was funded by Mrs. Lund’s gift card collection.
Heading towards The Russel building in New Westminster, I was feeling excited and ready to help in any way I could. Once we arrived we were greeted by Jennifer Lee who is a staff member at the UGM and her friends, and they had us fill up our lunch bags with yogurt, bags of chips, dad’s cookies, gatorade, and much more! People started flowing in around 1:00 PM and we were placed at our stations ready to serve. Each person was given a hot Pasta lunch (hence the name Pasta Sunday), our bagged lunch, and then directed to the clothing station.
The clothing station included myself, Noah and Colette and our task was to give bags filled with coats, socks and undergarments to those in need. In doing so, I realized how much fun you can have while serving and interacting with those in need. Participating in Pasta Sunday allowed me to gain a new perspective to life and allowed me to see what it means to be a follower of Christ.