Around the corner of my house stands the little church I’ve been attending for the entirety of my life. The stained glass windows depicting the Stations of the Cross, the echoing of the choir, the creaky wooden pews: each piece of the church became a piece of me. Wanting to play a more active role in this part of my life, I joined my youth group. At fourteen, I was one of the youngest, surrounded by kids ranging in ages. There were large differences in maturity throughout the group, however we were all linked by our strong connection to God. From our weekly meetings to our retreats, each and every interaction I had with the individuals in that group helped shape me into the young adult I am today. However, one of the most impactful events we had was our food packing and distribution. Each Monday, myself and other volunteers would arrive at the church and assume our roles. From tortillas to canned fruit, there was a wide variety of foods and large quantities: communication and collaboration were essential in ensuring the packaging process was efficient. During my first experience as a volunteer, there were clear problems in the system already in place; volunteers had language barriers amongst themselves and the families in need, as some people spoke Spanish while others, English. In addition to this, some steps of packaging took more time than others. For example, the process of fitting in each can of fruits took more time than putting a pack of tortillas in the bag. As a result, there were frequent back-ups in the assembly line that led to confusion and wasted time. There were clear solutions, however everyone was too focused on following the system already set in place to change anything about it. This reminded me of seeing the different types of individuals and all of their situations, which were ignored by the majority of society who went on with their days without caring to change this. I wanted to do what I could to help make their lives even a little more manageable, and so I decided to speak to the organizer of the food packaging program and inform her of the issues I’d taken note of. She heard my thoughts and asked me to tell the others what changes needed to be made and to take control of stations if necessary. When we began, I did just this. Informing my fellow volunteers of the inefficiencies in our assembly process, I instructed individuals to swap places and move so that there were enough volunteers at each station to ensure a consistent flow to reduce back-ups. When confusions arose due to language barriers, I had bilingual individuals address the problems so we were able to continue packing fluidly. In record time, we had packed hundreds of meals for needy families. Just this experience at my local church showed me how one person can be the difference if they put their mind to it. When someone is unafraid to take the first step to change an inefficient system, great benefits can be gained. Though it may seem small, the acknowledgment of the inefficiencies of this system allowed for families who may not have had enough food for the week to get an extra meal or two, a luxury many of us do not have to think about on a daily basis. In my case, being a part of my church’s youth group allowed me to see firsthand how I can make a change in my community and, hopefully, the world.