Students Elizabeth McElhiney and Daniela Zara were quoted in a Catholic Standard story on their community service at SOME (So Others Might Eat). See below.
From: Catholic Standard Date: June 3, 2016 Author: Mark Zimmermann
... In the dining room, Elizabeth McElhiney, a 19-year-old student from The Catholic University of America, served coffee to guests at their tables. That morning, she and two other students met at campus around 6:40 a.m. and got to SOME's dining hall around 7 a.m. Three mornings a week, students from the university serve together at SOME. On some mornings, they have up to 10 volunteers serving there.
McElhiney said the experience helps her "to have a broader understanding of the world around me... (and) to appreciate life and what I have."
For her, the work comes with a special reward. "I feel more connected with God whenever I'm serving," the CUA student said.
The Massachusetts native, who is studying biology and Spanish at Catholic University, said the SOME guests in turn encourage her to do her best in school and in life. "They always tell me to shoot for the stars and go for the dreams I have," she said.
For Daniela Zara, a senior political science major at Catholic University, the spark for serving at SOME came from an email inviting students to join their peers volunteering at the dining hall for the poor and homeless.
"I saw the email and thought, 'Why not?'" said the 21-year-old member of CUA's graduating class of 2016, who had been volunteering there since the fall.
On that morning, she served scrambled eggs to the guests. Many of the homeless or working poor men and women of different ages and backgrounds who came through her line expressed thanks, and children smiled at her.
Zara, a graduate of St. Elizabeth School in Rockville and the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, said she's learned a lot from her volunteer experience there.
"It reminds me they (the guests) are people, too. They're good people. They just fell on hard times," she said. ...