Andre House

Narrative Summary

So this civic service was not a new experience to me but after learning more about our government, it was a bit more eye opening. The location I served at was in just outside of downtown Phoenix. Our first trip down to Andre House was when we prepared and served dinner to homeless people. Homeless is a nice way of putting it for these people on the streets. They literally spend every hour of every day on the sidewalk in the shade and do nothing. These people have nothing and some are psychologically incapable of getting back on their feet. There was a man dress as Scooby Doo the first time we went… no joke. The second time we served, we helped sort out clothing in the basement. Andre House supplies clothes, food, showers, blankets, and toiletries. It helps the homeless people to get by and allows them to healthy as possible. The surroundings of Andre House are filled with a few hundred people with no money to their name. It felt good to do what I could to supply the less fortunate because every life is equal. And the most interesting thing about this experience was that a few people who lived in the area owned a hat that read “Census 2010.”

Summative of Civic Duty

Civic Duty is simply defined as the responsibilities of a citizen. It is said that all lives are equal and citizens must carry out their civic responsibilities. Civic duty mainly discusses about how it is the responsibility of the citizen to vote, perform civil services and obey the government laws. Civil Service excludes the legislative, judicial, and military branches. Members of the civil service have no official political allegiance and are not generally affected by changes of governments. An example of a civil service is supplying the less fortunate and feeding the homeless. It’s a responsibility of a citizen to make sure that all citizens are still treated as equals and served fairly by the government. Another act of civil service is jury duty. Under the seventh amendment, it is the duty of a citizen to be a part of a jury in a civil case (Mount). Jury duty is when called upon; you must perform an act of service. This service is to hear another citizen’s trial of law breaking. This is another duty to be performed by the citizen. Government laws are created and enforced for the protection of citizens. If laws were not created or enforced, this country would be run by anarchy. The 14^th amendment confirms equality to every citizens of the United States of America. States can not deprive any citizen of life liberty, or property (Mount). Plus you can not deny equal jurisdiction of laws to any specific citizen either. This amendment discusses individual liberties and privileges. Every citizen has their own responsibilities as a citizen and are all equal under the Constitution. The most important responsibility of a citizen is their duty to vote. Our country’s government is solely chosen by the opinion of the people and it is their duty to elect official and candidates about how they want their government to run (Stossel). Voting on a national, local, or state election must be taken advantage of to the fullest. This country is not run by the government, but by the people. The government regulates and enforces laws for our country but the people elected every official in Congress. It is the duty of the citizens to vote, perform civil services and obey all government laws.

Pictures!



Rock on... Sorting hangers for clothes



People would start lining up for dinner a few hours before it was served.

This is just a ramp they haul clothes up and down so you don't have to carry it up the stairs every time... Pretty nifty stuff!

Well this is the only picture left of me so i guess I've got to put it up now... This is on the way down to Andre House looking at the strange people in traffic and listening Jared sing along with Shania Twain. Good times!

Gotta get those Bathrooms spick and span!


Bibliography

Mount, S. A. (2010). The united states constitution. U.S. Constitution, 51(3), n.pag.

Stossel, J. M. (2008). Maybe it's your're civic duty to vote. abcNewsPolitics, 21(5), n.pag.

Analysis

Well as we all know, our country is caught in a very poor economic state right now so civic duty is required more now. Granted there will always be homeless people and physiologically challenged people but currently citizens in general are in more support and relief than a decade ago. There are thousands of homeless people in Phoenix and four hours out of my day to help feed a couple hundred people who live on a sidewalk is a small but valued civic duty. Helping out the homeless who are incapable of recovering financially and mentally is in critical need. And it is not only feeding the homeless directly that is needed. St. Mary’s packages and prepares thousands of tons of food annually for the homeless. A solid portion of the food packaged is from volunteers. St. Mary’s also repairs bikes to provide transportation for homeless around Phoenix as well. Food donations to places like Andre House help to feed less fortunate citizens directly. Our society is struggling economically with more people being forced to the streets each day. A few hours of civic duty from every citizen in Phoenix would repair the hearts and minds of the people on the streets. This civic duty does exist but in different forms. Some go directly to soup kitchens and donate their time to preparing meals or packaging clothes. Other forms of civic duty can be donations. Food, clothes, toiletries, water, blanket, e.t.c, are all donated to good causes to less fortunate citizens. Companies like St. Mary’s take food and clothes and distribute it to smaller more direct resources for homeless people. Goodwill will take practically any donations, shove them through the backdoor and put them on sale all in a day. The extents of these duties are very active and very large around the city of Phoenix and cities everywhere. Society can only benefit from these this type of civil service. People who donate their time and feed meals directly, immediately give relief and support of those less fortunate. Even donations benefit everyone. Our recent food drive at our school has sent a good portion of food to St. Mary’s food bank which goes directly to soup kitchens. By spending money on the donations of food, take bread for example, money is circulating for the demand flour and grain. Therefore our economy is slowly increasing because of the donation money given to the less fortunate and civic duty is being performed. If every citizen in phoenix donated one dollar to food for civic duty, approximately five million dollars in donations would go to feeding and help recovering for thousands of struggling people in this city. These forms of service will always be done by volunteers and good hearted people and there will unfortunately always be a need for these civic duties.

Pictures!