In lieu of Thai's birthday celebration, we opted to volunteer at a shelter for youth - Youth Without Shelter in Etobicoke in Toronto's west end. We are so thankful that some of our friends also joined us.
We took on the 'day-in-the-life' challenge of the shelter staff by volunteering to plan, shop and cook dinner for 50+ youths. Shopping for 50 people was no easy task (and all out-of-pocket), and cooking for 50 people was even more memorable. Team work definitely triumph, no matter the age (we had some friend's kids rolling up their sleeves as well). At the end of the night, we all had a new appreciation of the efforts by the staff who prepare meals everyday for the youth, and accounting for all the food allergy and preferences.
The best part was the time each of us had mingling with the youth at the shelter and making the connection to understand their stories of how they ended up at the shelter.
