Agape Day 2 ~ Monday, June 30th

Today was an incredibly full day! Migrant Immersion Day; a day where we try to step into the shoes of a migrant farm worker. We woke up at 5:15 and headed out to a farm to work for 4 hours.
After a morning of weeding and harvesting beans, we were 'paid' like a berry picker and had to buy dinners with our simulation families. The youth were a bit surprised by the challenge of buying a meal on a budget for a family.

After a break in the afternoon, we spent 2 hours in service at one of the migrant camps in Whatcom County. Always a highlight of the week, we played games, did crafts, and built community with the young kids and teens who live at the migrant camps during the summer. Many of them pick the strawberries and raspberries in the morning and early afternoon on the large farms in Whatcom County; so this is not typical summer for them. By bringing dodgeballs, soccer balls, crafts, and lots of energy, we are able to give them a bit of a summer for a few hours.

Highlights of the day:
~Working on the farm in the morning because it felt like we were there for shorter amount of time and we had fun together. We could also see the results of our hard work. ~Zack
~When one of the boys at the migrant camp gave me a hug goodbye. ~Sophie
~When one of the girls at the camp made me a bracelet and a picture with the word 'love' on it. ~Kellie
~Working on the farm because it helped us build community with our group. ~Rebekah
~Seeing all the babies that I met 2 years ago that are bigger now. And seeing all the kids at the camp again. ~Gabby
~Playing with the kids because it was fun. ~Elliott
~Meeting new friends that I thought I would never have at the camp. ~Joseph
~Definitely playing with the kids at the camp because it was fun! And the ice cream our family bought with our dinner. ~Dominic
~Beating Javier at spoons and how we served each other at the farm by helping each other with our farm work. ~Alanna

Working on the farm.

Beautiful organic farm.

Harvesting dried beans.

Making friends at the camp.

Crafts at the camp.

Enjoying Bellingham Bay during our break.

These kids LOVE spoons.

Agape Day 1 ~ Sunday, June 29th

We started the day with Mass at Sacred Heart, Bellingham. Then we ate breakfast and got our day started with some community builders and reflections.

After lunch we went to a few different grocery stores to ask shoppers for food donations for the food bank we will run on Wednesday. We collected donations for 3 hours and collected a LOT of food! People were so generous.

When we came back to Sacred Heart we went through a Food Bank simulation to help us better understand what the families will go through on Wednesday. We were broken into families and had to go through the food bank to select the food for our dinner.
We then, in our families, made our dinners with the food bank food and ate dinner in our families.
It was a very eye-opening experience to feel what the families experience when getting their food from a food bank.
We also participated in a reflection and activity to introduce us to world-wide poverty statistics.
Over all, a great day!

Highlights of the day:
~Food drive at the grocery store because people were so generous to our cause. -Javier
~Working at the grocery stores and building community with the people who donated. ~Rebekah
~Building community with the Sacred Heart group, getting to know my simulation family. ~Noah
~I really like working in my simulation family. And I was surprised by the meal that we made. It was actually pretty good. ~Kellie
~Having my knowledge expanded about the realties of the poverty statistics world-wide. It makes me more grateful for what I have. ~Sarah
~At the grocery store doing the food drive, because it was fun to see who would donate and how nice they were. ~Zack

Building Community

Small groups introducing themselves

Food Bank simulation.