Baldwin Center

I went to the Baldwin Center in Pontiac for my blogging class. The experience was really refreshing. I haven't immersed myself in public service for quite some time and I realized how much I missed volunteering when I shed my jacket and began hauling items to the basement of the food pantry.

Honestly, the experience invoked feelings of personal shame. Shame that it took a college class to remind me to "Love thy Neighbor." Shame that I didn't even know the Baldwin Center existed before the venture. Shame that I haven't been back yet.

Luckily, the experience rekindled the flickering passion inside of me that yearns to see a struggling people unite for common good and justice. Granted, this is the type of thinking that Glenn Beck would label Communistic and Naziesque,
but I've never cared what incoherent, simple-minded, hate and fear mongers think of me, so why start now?

Before I go into a long-winded tangent into Glenn Beck's hateful and dangerous comments, allow me to regroup and focus on the positivity of the Baldwin Center.

I was extremely touched by the food pantry and the clothes closet. The thought that people down on their luck could have a place to pick up soup and vegetables for their families makes me smile. The fact that the Baldwin Center actually does this on a daily basis forces a small tear to join the smile already on my face. What's more touching than knowing a hungry, innocent child will be bedding down with a nourished body?

The clothes closet is also essential. The "Glenn Becks" of the world like to berate poor folks for not having jobs, but who is going to hire someone arriving to a job interview wearing ripped jeans and a stained sweatshirt? After all, many hiring managers employ the same compassion as Beck does when it comes to the poor. The clothes closet allows folks to acquire proper clothing that can win them a job, and just as importantly, these men and women can acquire clothing that will shield them from the notoriously harsh Michigan winters.

Overall, visiting the Baldwin Center is an overlooked opportunity to extend love to people who have been given cold stares of indifference. I strongly recommend everyone shoot it a visit. The only disappointment your trip will bring is the sad realization that a soup kitchen/clothing closet like this is necessary in this land of milk and honey.

"Where ever you see a cop beatin' a guy
where ever a hungry, newborn baby cries
where ever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
look for me Ma, I'll be there"
-Rage Against the Machine