Firsthand Look At SHIP Trip

Grant Raincsuk, Staff Writer

So recently I went on a SHIP (Summit Helping Its People) trip for the first time, and I’d have to say the experience was something else. Before the trip itself, I wasn’t even certain what would happen during it, so I was pleasantly pleased with the result. If you didn’t already know, students from Oratory are able to go on these trips every so often and we’re able to feed people who come to the building we are at who are either homeless or at-risk homeless. Students are to bring a certain dish to the building, enough to serve the amount of people who come in, and then the people are served. Going into my own experience, I brought in a batch of buttered green beans to cover vegetables, which was much appreciated. The serving situation was very similar to how having lunch here at Oratory is, as they come up to get food on their plate and they’re able to ask for any and as many foods that are offered to them. I wasn’t able to do any of the serving, as they only really needed two or three students to serve since one student can cover multiple dishes, but I still got to help around a bit by checking on everyone to make sure they’re all set and giving everyone rolls of bread in the beginning. In the end, everyone was free to take some helpful bags that contained things such as socks, hats, food, toiletries, and more. There was some extra food and the bags, so the bags can be used for other purposes while the food can be put into baggies so they can either have food for later or bring it to someone else who may need it. Overall, it was a very nice experience and I’d encourage going on a trip at least once in order to see if you’d like it, because I certainly did.