August 3, 2011Award Winning Essayby DelayneDanny Barbaro, a 7th grader at Ascension School, shares his awarding winning essay about volunteering at the House of Bread:

Soul Food

“Danny wake up. Remember, today’s the day you volunteered for service,” my mom said while tugging at my covers. I rolled over and squinted to read the clock. The big red numbers confirmed it was way too early, 7:30. “One more hour of sleep would be nice,” but my mom insisted.

I stumbled downstairs for breakfast and decided to give it one more try, “Mom do I have to go?” Doesn’t she know I’m twenty stars away from beating Super Mario Galaxy?

“Danny, you made this commitment; you’ll find community service is good for your soul.”

“Great,” I mumbled. I finished getting ready, dragged a rake through my hair, and got into the car. My sister, Sarah, decided to tag along. Wow not only was this going to be a five hour waste of my life, now my sister was coming!

“Where we heading?” mom asked.

“The House of Bread,” I read off of the crumpled brochure I pulled from my pocket. “It’s a non-profit organization that offers a solid meal to the less fortunate of the Dayton area, blah...blah...blah, runs off of peoples donations of time, food, and money.”

“That must be it right up there,” mom said. “Where all those people are lined up.” Mom parked and we headed toward the back door. “VOLUNTEERS NEEDED” read the sign on the door.

A nice, old man welcomed us in. A kid my age was also helping that day. The boy introduced himself with, “Hello I’m Eric.”

No sooner had we met when the nice old man put us to work folding plastic silverware into the napkins. Eric and I got to work and started talking about Mario. When the napkins were folded, it was time to put out tables and chairs. Eric and I had a contest to see who could put chairs around the tables the quickest. I lost.

When all was ready, the little old man approached us, “You’re not allowed in the kitchen. It’s an age thing. You can help with the trash and dishes. Thanks.”

We watched people come inside and take a ticket. One man tried to take two tickets. For as skinny as he was, he could have used two meals. People came and ate quickly - like I do when I’m in a hurry to get back to video games. I realized, they ate fast not because they had somewhere to be, but because they were hungry. Really hungry. I felt guilty. As they finished they brought us their trays and warmly thanked us. Each time it made me smile, inside and out.

“You’re done,” the little old man said, “Nice job!” I couldn’t believe it had been five hours. Leaving, Eric asked, ”Bye, will I see you again? I’m here every other Saturday. At first, like you, my mom made me go, but now I like it. Helps the community and makes them happy and I have fun!”

“Yeah,” I said, “See you in a couple of weeks.”June 17, 2011Facebook Pageby Melodieif you have a great experience volunteering at the House of Bread, write about it here and/or on our facebook page!March 30, 2011House of Bread Silent Auctionby MelodieNow that we've got this great new website, it's time to have a really cool special event.  Join us for a great evening on Saturday, May 7, at the Holiday Inn Dayton Mall for a silent auction, open bar, appetizers and dessert.  All proceeds benefit the House of Bread.  tickets are just $35 per person.see all →