Leaving bright and early from the hotel, 6:45, we headed into Phoenix. First stop was the LodeStar homeless shelter. Driving by, we saw dozens of homeless individuals gathered to receive food, shelter, and medical attention at LodeStar. Ruben and Tracy, the shelter employees who guided us, said that having all the services in one place made it easier for the homeless to quickly receive help and get back on their feet in the community. For LodeStar, the boys emptied a disordered shed of various donated supplies, then refilled it neat and orderly to make the supplies easier to reach.
After a quick stop for some Mexican food (which seems to be turning into a team pattern), we went to the St. Mary’s Foodbank, the first foodbank in the United States. The boys loaded shopping carts full of food and gave them to all sorts of people who needed assistance feeding themselves and their families. Some memorable individuals there included an old man driving a car which the license plate dubbed “A Historical Artifact,” and a three-year old boy with a ring of chocolate around his mouth who clearly thought St. Mary’s was the best place on Earth.
After our full day of service, we returned to the hotel to cool off in the pool with a rousing, heavily contested game of pool basketball (Final score 15-13, win-by-two). Wish us luck tomorrow as we play Desert Vista High School, the highest-ranked lacrosse team in the state.
