Jamie’s entry – Creating Hope

I guess I’ve always been the kind of person to worry about the little things in life. I usually get so bogged down in my own little world that I am blinded by everything else surrounding me. I’ve been so cynical lately and felt the Earth would crumble in the arms of war, terror, and natural disaster. I thought there was no hope for mankind. I took Poly House under the impression that it would be a great little community service project that would make me feel good about myself. After the first couple of weeks I thought, “what have I got myself into?!” As one of the logistics team members, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of work we had to do and how many strangers I would have to ask for money. When it comes to cold calling, I am pretty shy and tend to stumble over my words, thus gaining no form of donations. In my worry, I felt that the work weekends were drawing closer and closer and I was running out of time!

Looking through the class website I stumbled upon photos of the Nipomo home and the Todd family. Their hopeful smiles sparked something inside of me. This project wasn’t just another class for me, but it was something bigger than me. The feeling of worry and stress was lifted and I felt a new sense of urgency to help this family. As it turned out calling people for donations wasn’t so bad despite some of my stuttered words. Even in these economic times, small mom and pop business owners are still willing to help out their neighbors. Some people even cut me short to insist that they wanted to help. It is because of this community’s generosity that I am way ahead of schedule and I am finding myself more eager and excited than ever to see the project to the end.

These donations have given me a renewed sense of hope in people. I will never again underestimate the kindness of others. Poly House could not exist without the generosity of the community.