Zach Tompkins

Ms. Spence

English 1 PreAP – 3

26 February 2014

Love Should Not Hurt

“Love should not hurt,” is a quote we have seen around the halls of AHS during the

month of February. Unfortunately, there are many women and children who live with this hurt

each day. Domestic violence is a part of our community, but fortunately, there is help for these

families.

I volunteered at the Family Time Crisis and Counseling Center,

along with my mom and brother. It is a confidential women’s shelter in

the Humble area. Because of the confidential nature of the location, we

had to sign confidentiality agreements to promise to not disclose the

location of the shelter. Once we signed the agreement, we were ready to

work. Ms. Tristan, the shelter director, showed us to the back to begin our

work. The room was a medium-sized room, filled with large storage

containers of overflowing articles of clothing and shoes. My family and I

spent two hours sorting the clothing by gender, then size and type of clothing.

At first I did not understand how I was helping anyone. Then Ms.

Tristan explained the importance of the clothing donations to the women

and children of the shelter. When they first arrive at the shelter, the first

things they are given are food, a shower, and clean clothes. Most come

with nothing but the clothes on their back, which are usually dirty. Sorting

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the numerous donations make it much easier for the employees to give the families fresh

clothing, quick and easy. The importance of volunteering is changing in today’s society.

Volunteering use to be very common, but in today’s world, people are focusing more on

themselves, rather than the need for extra help. Volunteering for the shelter gave me comfort in

knowing that if an abused woman shows up on the shelter’s doorsteps, she will have nice, clean

clothes to wear. It is important for more people to volunteer at places like this so the victims

living there can get extra help.

The room we worked in was very crammed and clutter with a lot of different things.

Some of the containers had lids to cover the clothing, but most lids were laying on the floor. The

hardest part of the job was putting away the store bought clothes

that were packaged, because we had to remove hangers,

wrappers, and tags. The next thing we did was take everything

out of the containers and lay it all on tables in a different room.

Then we folded and put the donated clothes into their

corresponding containers. The different clothes ranged from

small socks and shoes to pajamas and career clothing. After two

hours of folding, sorting, and organizing, the room was nice and

neat, with clothing bins easy to access.

I chose to volunteer at Family Time because it is a place that my church makes donations

to. Knowing the importance of helping others in need is another reason I chose to volunteer at

this shelter. I felt it would be important to help them. I am glad I chose to volunteer at the shelter,

because I learned many of the responsibilities that exist to care for victims of domestic violence.

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Through this experience, I learned that volunteering does not have to be something huge

to make an impact. I have volunteered before, but this time I really felt that my efforts were truly

going to affect these families that have been in very dangerous situations. Some people say that it

is too hard to volunteer or they don’t have the time, but it is really as simple as doing house

chores, folding and putting away clothes. This simple act, and two hours of my time, could be

part of a life-changing experience for many women and children who don’t even know I was

there. My family and I are even making plans to continue volunteering there monthly.

Family Time Women’s Shelter Wish List African American hair products Pregnancy Tests Large size Hair Combs Washcloths Disposable gloves for ladies for cooking in kitchen.(clear in color) Tall sized plastic Hampers for Shelter office for resident wet linens he Laundry detergent for ladies to do laundry Dryer sheets Fabulouso for floor cleaning All types of Paper Products ..ETC, Paper towels, paper plates, toilet paper, Janitorial Type Mops and Yellow Buckets along with extra Mop heads. Similac Baby Formula (not Enfamil) Sizes 5,6 Diapers Newborn Items, bibs, washcloths, rattles, bassinette sheets, Ladies assorted sizes of slippers Paper hair nets for ladies to use in their kitchen while preparing food Gas gift cards for emergencies for the ladies that have jobs All types of disinfectant cleaners and wipes. Cases of bottled water Garbage Bags All sizes of heavy duty zip loc bags Lunch type insulated lunch bags for the ladies when they go to court for the day. Twin sized sheet bed sheet sets. Warm and cozy type twin size blankets toilet cleaning brushes small trash cans for each residents room cough drops, benedryl for adults, tylenol. advil, alieve,motion sickness medicine,

ibuprophen, pepto bistmol, tums, all types of over the counter meds 1 large set of stainless steel cook ware for our cook Ms Danuta, whom has the same for

13 years and has only one small saucepan to use to cook for entire shelter of residents.

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Large restaurant size of baking dish to cook for a large casserole, lasagna