Opportunity Center Week #5 - STOP

This week I wasn’t able to make it on my normal Wednesday 10-12 slot due to comps. I instead dropped in on Friday to meet with the STOP people who were going to be holding a computer lab workshop later in the day. When I got there, the girls from STOP had set up a table where they had bread, cheese, meat, chips etc. for a sandwich “picnic”. It was awesome. All of the members of STOP (Students Taking on Poverty) were younger girls. They looked very innocent and bright-eyed and shy, but they did a great job serving. I learned a little bit about STOP talking to them. They are a new organization who was looking to do various service activities. This picnic was their first event. They have a person who will be coming in to give workshops in the computer lab. I’m not sure what they will be teaching, but Dawn and I plan on meeting up with him to discuss working together to build our tool to help clients connect to employers online.

I met up with Gina who was in the clothes closet helping some people. We started talking about my exams. She really seems to have an interest in my program, asking me often about what I'm studying and how it's going. Apparently her husband is also an engineer. Earlier she remarked to me how personable and social I was, which was a sharp contrast to her husband, who “wanted nothing to do with” the Opportunity Center. Too bad. I think he would be proud of how Gina conducts herself there. Gina also mentioned how she had considered, at some point, pursuing a PhD in philosophy. I would not be surprised one bit, she seems more than capable.

When I asked her how it went with the Wednesday rush without me this week, she mentioned that Gwendolyn was no longer working in the kitchen. She said something about how the organization she was working for redeployed her or something, but I couldn’t really follow. When I think about it now, it seems possible that their past issues may have played a role.

Right as I was leaving, I helped a young girl and her mother unload a bunch of toiletry supplies into the kitchen store room. Apparently this girl had run a drive at her junior high school to donate the supplies to the Opportunity Center. What generosity and initiative from the young girl. I was really impressed and told her she was really awesome for doing such a thing. When I was her age, helping others was one of the last things on my mind.