Hello everyone! I’m Kaif Syed, one of the participants on the Ruskin ABST. Our day started with some homemade breakfast, and then we headed to our second community partner for this trip – Beth El Farm Workers Ministry. Upon arrival, we were welcomed and signed in by Shelly, the administrative assistant and thrift store manager at BethEl, who is also one of our project managers for the next few days. Shelly shared her struggles growing up in a migrant workers’ family, recounting how her education was disrupted, changing schools up to four times a year due to migration. Despite the challenges, she has attained her high school degree and is currently working on her associate degree. We were then greeted by the rest of the staff at BethEl, all of whom were amazing people. After a quick tour of the facility, which provided insight into the vital service that BethEl provides, we were assigned our project for the day: organizing donations received for the thrift store. There were a lot of donations, highlighting the generosity of people, but also the challenges faced by volunteers and minimal staff in storing and organizing them. This emphasizes the ongoing need for more people to support these organizations and make a difference in the community. The team did an excellent job organizing the donations and the thrift store, sorting through items efficiently. By the end of the day, everything was set for the food pantry day the next day, which serves 600-700 families weekly. Additionally, we assisted in carrying items from the pantry to the warehouse to facilitate the workers’ navigation. After a tiring seven-hour workday, we headed back home, grateful for some much-needed rest before the next day. We concluded the day with a delicious homemade spaghetti and vegetable meal prepared by our wonderful accompanier, Ashley.