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LANCASTER -- When I first got the call for this assignment, I was unsure what to expect.
I did not know anyone associated with this event and I had never even heard of the Global Aid Network (GAiN).
It was amazing to see how over 50 strangers in a bus changed in one day.
In the wee hours of 6 a.m., we were bleary eyed and eating Munchkins, quietly chatting to our seat mates. I was sitting alone.
However, by the road trip home, once-strangers were talking and laughing as if they had been friends for years. There was something unifying about traveling together and working on different projects that would benefit people in other parts of the world.
Feeling a little like the outside observer, I found myself being accepted into different groups. Honestly, there was no earth-shattering reason why these volunteers decided to work (other than it being the right thing and the kind thing).
They were there to help. That was it.
GAiN asks volunteers to donate both finances and time -- without money, they do not have items to prepare and, without the items to prepare, then who would get helped?
The workers at GAiN go above that.
I spoke with several of the "employees" there and guess what -- no one is employed by GAiN. Everyone working for the organization has to raise funds to be there.
Meaning, anyone who works there or volunteers there wants to be there.
And anyone who wants to be there wants to make the world a better place.
As far as I'm concerned, we need more of that.
At one point, I had the chance to work with a small group associated with the First United Church of Muncy. We were filling plastic bags with beans, heat sealing them and putting them in another container to be packed up.
I was trying to get photos for the story, and I had one of them jokingly pointing at me and say, "I don't want my picture taken!"
Naturally, I decided to take as many pictures of her as I could, because of natural tendency to be "a nudge", as my father would say. I was OK with that.
I would sneak photos when I thought she was not looking only to hear her call out, "I see you!" Finally, I had the chance to take a selfie with her -- you see her trying to turn her head while I put on the goofiest of grins.
We were soon laughing and kidding around and it got us a chance to talk.
What I got out of GAiN was that the folks on this trip were not just generous volunteers, but kind people who would share their time. They shared their time with me.
For that, I was grateful.
And for the record, I did not publish any of the pictures of my friend. That would be rude. However, I may sell them to the highest bidder.