Hi! My name is Lilly Mahle and I am a sophomore, biology major on the pre-med track, and this is my second ABST. Today we started our morning serving breakfast to the men coming to the Father McKenna center. We also prepared lunch and served that. After lunch, we helped clients come in and navigate the food pantry that the center hosts four days per week. 

In between breakfast and lunch, an accompanier on the trip and I got to have a very insightful conversation with one of the staff and another volunteer who comes into the center every week. We talked about how the center tries to meet people where they are and support them in any way that they can.

One quote the staff member said that stuck out to me was, “You should always be yourself and not compare yourself to others because everyone else is already taken.”

Later in the day, we went to the museum of Natural History.

We then came back and cooked dinner and did our daily reflection.

Today was such an amazing experience, and I am excited to see where the rest of the week takes us!