Pre-Mother's Day Celebration

From one of the emails sent out, I came across a link that took me to MathWorks' Social Mission's volunteer challenge page. On the page, I came across several volunteering opportunities  I  signed up to volunteer at the pre-Mother's Day celebration at the Natick Senior Center on May 10th.

This day holds special importance because it marks the second month of my mother's death. She passed away on March 10th, 2013. On April 10th, I was still in India. I went to the nearby Banadurga temple which my mom frequented and donated money to homeless who were sitting in front of the entrance. I remember she used to offer them prasad after offering her usual prayers at the temple.

Today, I helped with the set-up, checking people in, assisting during the breakfast and finally cleaning up after the breakfast was over. It was a very fulfilling experience for me. Senior citizens hold a special place in my heart. I was close to my grandparents and loved them very much. And today most of the guests were women who were there to celebrate motherhood.

Natick Senior Center, May 10th, 2013

I started out with helping people sign in by checking off their names on the sign-in sheet. Later, I helped out in the banquet hall. Every individual I served coffee or breakfast or helped with anything, every time someone smiled with gratitude, every time I got an opportunity to make the guest feel special, it was a wonderful heartwarming feeling. It felt like I was loving my mother back through them.After everything wrapped up, the management came and thanked the volunteers for their time. In my mind, I was thanking them for giving me an opportunity to be a part of it all.