My Experience Working At A Nonprofit Made Me Realize How Lucky I Am To Have Food On My Table Every Day

This summer I began an internship at the Women and Family Ascending Association, or W.A.F.A.A. for short. I was excited to see the inner workings of a real nonprofit and most importantly, having an impact on people's lives. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The first couple of days was a lot of clerical work. I would be sending emails, making calls and doing the busywork. I was an intern, but I was also hoping to be helping real people. I didn't realize that the work I was doing was important and necessary. But after seeing the real impact of my work, I began to feel more enthusiastic and motivated to work.

I was making phone calls like I regularly did and people were usually not answering or saying "not interested" before I even got out a sentence. I was getting used to the routine when a woman had actually listened to everything I had to say. She asked questions about our organization and gave us a generous donation. All of the calls I had made had been worth it for that one. Someone was going to benefit from the donation that I had obtained.

Since then, I have actually been able to meet and personally witness how the actions of the organization have improved the lives of many people. Specifically, I remember meeting a woman to let her pick food from our donations and she was extremely happy. She even said, "This feels like Christmas."

I realized how lucky I was to have food on the table every day and it inspired me to put even more work into the organization. I personally feel like I am doing something important with my life and I like getting up early in the morning to go to work. I think everyone would benefit from doing work like this, even if it is small, like buying food for a homeless person. You feel better about yourself and you have done something to better another life. The world might be a much better place if everyone did work or became apart of something in which they have no monetary gain.