"Living To Serve" by Katie Mestayer, State Secretary

March Blog

The year was 2010. Ten year old me was forced to go to the homeless shelter with my church’s youth group. I specifically remember thinking to myself on the way there “I wish I was home, I don’t want to be here.” My bad attitude followed me into the men’s shelter in Baton Rouge as we began to set up the dinner we were providing them. As I carelessly served the salad onto their plate, my negative thoughts were interrupted by the most sincere and humble “thank you.” I looked up and saw the face of an older gentleman with the biggest smile on his face. He gave a genuine “thank you” to each person as they served him. I decided to later sit down with him and share our meal together. He never once told me what he didn’t have, or what he wished he had. He only told me what he’s thankful for, and he started by saying he was thankful for my church group coming every month to serve them dinner. Wow. I mean, my heart literally sank in my chest. It was at that moment that I truly realized the incredible value of community service.

Service. What exactly is service? Google says it is “the action of helping or doing work for someone.” In the FFA, we heavily emphasize on service and its importance. Most of your chapters probably participate in at least one service project throughout the year, maybe even once or twice a month.  Whether it’s helping out at your local food bank or visiting your local nursing home, community service is a necessity. It’s extremely important that we realize how valuable these actions are, and if your chapter doesn’t participate in any service projects, it may be time to consider how serving your community can be beneficial for you.

If you or your chapter are unsure where to start, or you are looking to enhance your service opportunities, schedule a meeting with your town’s mayor and learn where your community is in need! This is an awesome way to develop a relationship with your city officials as well as serve your community. Even if your project is small, no service goes unnoticed. In my chapter, we have built a relationship with a local elderly man who can no longer care for his citrus orchard and greenhouse. Once a month we visit for an hour and a half to help him out as much as we can. This past month that we visited him, I told him that I wished we could come more often because we feel like we could do more. He told me that we don’t understand how much us coming meant to him, even only for an hour and a half a month. No matter the project, the work you are putting in, it is always impacting someone much more than what meets the eye. You and your chapter may even find yourselves making some impactful and lasting relationships memories. Always remember, a servant’s heart is never out of style.
Keep serving,
Katie Mestayer