Andrew Friscia

A Day at the Community Center

In the fall of Junior year of high school, I signed up to work at the Community Center of

Northern Westchester, in Katonah. I would be there every Saturday 10:00 – 2:00 volunteering

with other volunteers to fill up the food pantry and making food orders for people in need. It

was also pretty close by, since the community center was only 10 minutes away from my home

in Somers.

After volunteering for a couple months, thanksgiving was coming up during the month

of November. I was scheduled to be there the Saturday before thanksgiving 9:00 – 1.00, but

something unexpected happened on that day. Waking up on that Saturday, something was off.

My stomach was hurting, and I felt nauseous. I wasn’t sure if it was food poisoning from the

night before because I had duck for dinner at a restaurant with my family, or if it was a stomach

bug. I wanted to call out of my shift, but I called out last Saturday, so It didn’t feel right calling

out two weeks in a row. The community center was also low on staff, so they needed me,

especially for this day because Thanksgiving is coming up. It was a festive week, so it was going

to be unusually busy.

I had to suck it up and drive there at 10:00, hoping that my sickness feeling would

subside. I get there and park my car in the parking lot next to the community center. I get out,

lock my car and walk to the building and go through the front door. I do the usual signing up on

the sheet downstairs and see what there is for me to do for the community center. I remember
feeling sicker as time went by, but it was going to be a busy day, so I felt obligated to do the

shift.

A very kind woman in her forties that I have been working with since I first started the

volunteering asked if I could carry turkeys from the freezer and move them to a table outside.

“There are turkeys in the freezer; we need them to go to the table outside, at the back.

Do you think you can do it? You have the muscles,” she asked, smiling.

“Yeah, sure, ha-ha,” I responded.

Compared to the other volunteers, I was considered more capable of doing this task.

So, I started doing it for 30 minutes. I remember straining my back and trying to keep a good

posture while carrying the turkeys across the room to the outside table. It took a decent

amount of effort, and it was also cold at the time, while feeling sick. So, it was uncomfortable.

There was also a food pantry in a room to the left that I would always pass by when

walking. It had different sections of food, such as a shelf for rice, peanut butter, pasta, canned

soup, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and a miscellaneous section. At the miscellaneous shelf

there was canned pumpkin, mashed potatoes, stuffing and more, for the upcoming holiday. I

would usually be putting the food there organizing the shelves after the community center

received the food from a truck. The reason the food is organized on these shelves is so another

volunteer will then pick out a variety of items from the pantry and put them in bags for people

in need. It creates an efficient process.

 But anyways, coming to finishing up the turkeys, the nausea was hitting me more. My

stomach was aching, and I started to feel lightheaded while carrying the heavy mass of the

turkeys. The feeling of sickness I had had got progressively worse as time went, like a ticking

time bomb. It was not good.

It became unbearable, and I felt the impending doom of the nausea and stomach pain I

was experiencing. Before, I wasn’t sure if I should have gone to the bathroom or kept working,

but I was now more confident in my decision. So, I walked over to the bathroom. No one was

using it (thank god), so I opened the door and went to the toilet. Sooner than not, I ended up

emptying out my insides. I was in there for around 10 minutes, made sure the bathroom was

sanitary, and then left. One of the volunteers looked concerned when they saw me.

“Are you okay? You should go home.” She said.

“I think I might have gotten food poisoning.” I responded.

They were probably wondering what was happening in there from all the noise being

made from me recoiling.

I said bye to all of the volunteers, left the community center, walked to my car and

drove back to my house. At the time, I felt guilty about leaving because they still needed help

for a couple more hours and there was more to do. Families were also going to be at the

community center soon. but what happened was not in my control, obviously.

Later that day, I figured out that it wasn’t food poisoning, it turns out that I got a nasty

stomach bug that was going around in my high school that week. Which at the time, I had no
idea what I had, I thought maybe it would have gone away. I then threw up a couple more

times during the day, so it wasn’t a fun time to be remembered.

For a while after that happened, I felt embarrassed. But now, I look at it and think,

showing up at the community center was an act of social justice.

When someone is feeling ill and has an obligation, the decision to commit to something

reflects a higher level of kindness and dedication. (Not that you need to help if you are sick.)

Helping when needed does make a difference, despite the circumstances.

Helping people and understanding why it is a good thing to do requires a level of

empathy and compassion. Considering the needs of people is an act of social justice. If you are

feeling down, there is someone else that can be feeling worse. Being a selfless person is

beneficial because not only are you making others feel good, but it also makes you feel good

about your own actions.