Feeding the Hungry Organization

Combined Paper- Ethnography, Interview, & Content Analysis Paper

For my research study I focused on an organization that gives free warm meals for breakfast every day of the year to people who are in need. My goal was to look for patterns, know what it is like to be a member of the group, understand their way of communication, and know their group at a deeper level. I seperated my observations into three hour sections on three different days each, to be able to get to know the group better by seeing different aspects of it on my different observations. With my observations I was able to see the patterns within the organization as well as apply theory to the observations and understand their group in more detail than I did before my study.

My research for this semester has been focused on an organization that provides free warm meals for breakfast all year round, to anyone who is need and hungry. This organization is very involved with their community and has the goal of feeding all those who are hungry and with this and by this helping change the lives of those people for the better. I had the opportunity to observe this organization at first and get to know them as a group through observations but now I was able to conduct interviews that helped me understand this organization in a deeper level with all the information I was able to acquire while conducting these interviews. To be able to conduct these interviews I first had to explain to them the whole reason behind my interviews and my research and then after obtain their approval to conduct interviews and for this they signed consent forms that would show their coopertaviness to my research. After obtaining a consent from them I was able to conduct three different interviews on three different days and times as well. I had the opportunity to interview these three people for a combined total of 1 hour and 4 seconds.

The location of my where my interviews were conducted were different for each interview. The first one being conducted at the the church office the organization is connected to, the second interview at the office in the hall where the organization serves, and the last also being at the hall were the organization is located but this time conducted outside of the building rather than inside. I chose to interview these three different individuals because I wanted to be able to interview people in the organization who had different roles within the organization but yet shared the same group and goals. These three people showed to be very involved in the organization, each with their own specific role. The first person I interviewed was a volunteer, the second a coordinator, and the third a board member. Interviewing them through the asking of questions that relate to different concepts helped me understand their group more within sociology.

My group of study is an organization that focuses on feeding every hungry person who is need of food. They serve free breakfast every morning and make sure that everyone who walks in feels welcome and leaves with a happy full stomach every morning. I had the opportunity to take a closer look at their organization and go into more depth in gaining knowledge about this group by analyzing several different documents about this group. I analyzed different sources and documents about this group such as flyers, social media videos, and news articles. As I searched for different sources and documents pertaining to my organization of study I was able to come across 33 different sources of knowledge. After being able to gather all my different sources the following steps were to analyze them through different learned concepts that connected with my sources and would help me see patterns between both. I was able to gather information from their facebook social media account, however I received much more rich data from the organization's shared youtube videos. I was also able to go on their website and obtain more research findings there as well as I did through different news articles written about this organization.

My group is tied to a Catholic Church and since this organization is slowly but surely growing as time goes by forced me to go beyond this specific group and search for other groups similar to this one who have a connection with feeding the hungry and originating from a Catholic Church. I was able to obtain a great portion of my sources and documents from my organization before moving on to others who are doing the exact same as this organization, which accomplished my goal because I wanted to have as many sources as possible from my organization of study before moving on to obtain sources from other similar organizations. Through my research on the group and within my findings in the documents and sources I was able to connect five different concepts, one of them being diagnosis. I was able to connect diagnosis to my organization because throughout the different sources when the concept is applied it is clear to see how the group is trying to fight an injustice on society and that being hunger, specifically in those living in poverty or who are homeless. I was able to analyze the sources through the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, motivation, identity, and agency. Being able to connect all five different concepts to my analysis if the sources gave me a broader understanding of who this group is, their purpose, and what it is contributing and changing in society and within its own community.

Methods

I was able to observe my group which was the volunteers, cooks, and leaders of the organization. I focused on the volunteers on my first observation, the cooks on the second day, and the leaders on my third day. I decided to divide my observation hours between the three different groups within the overall large group/organization. Dividing my observations into categories was the best option because it helped me focus on different individuals within the group that are all important in different ways to the organization each with very different roles. Each of the times that I was there observing I was just on the side looking and taking notes and not interrupting anyone or asking questions but only observing.

My first observation was on Sunday March 31, 2019 and I conducted an observation of one full hour, I went in at 7:45 in the morning and spoke to the organization about my observation and after getting approval from them I started my observation at 8:00 am and ended it at 9:00am. The second observation was the following weekend on Saturday April 6, 2019 and for this observation I started at 7:00 am and ended at 8:00am. I started earlier on this day because it was the day I was observing the cooks in the kitchen and they start preparing very early every morning. Even though doors do not open to public until 8:00am I had to show up earlier on this day to be able to observe the cooks scenery and get a different perspective. My last observation was the following day on Sunday April 7, 2019 I started at 9:00 am and ended at 10:00 am,going at this time helped me see a different side of the organization. The organization stops serving breakfast at 9:30am and doors close at that time. Observing at this time allowed me to see what it is like for the organization once they start to close and on this day I also focused on the leaders of the organization and their roles to see a different point of view.

My observations consisted of me focusing on my group for each day within the organization and writing as much detail as possible by focusing more on the interaction aspect. After writing as much thick description as possible about each observation I would immediately make connections to concepts and theories in relation to my observations. I focused on front stage/backstage, roles, meaningful action, looking glass self, and stigma for my study when observing. I did hand write all my notes however I did do voice recordings of things I wanted to remember later on when I got home and worked on writing my notes neater and better organized. After having all my handwritten notes typed up I used the computer program Nvivo which helped me code all my notes and and put them into different categories in nodes.

Throughout my observations I had a very pleasant experience each time I was conducting my study because everyone that was part of the organization was fine with what I was doing. At first I thought they might not be themselves and be quiet or shy because they knew I would be watching them but it was the complete opposite. Everyone seemed to forget and not even notice because of how busy they always are and how it is a loud environment because there's a lot of socializing going on from start to finish. Being able to conduct my observations was not difficult and I did not have any problems doing so because it is place that is open to public and welcomes everyone in, on top of that everyone is very friendly and social, and they were very open about me conducting my research with their organization. It is also not too far from where I live and it they are there every single day so it worked out perfect because I was able to go on weekends when I have more freetime because I do not have work or school to go too. Overall it was interesting and a very positive environment to be around that made it even fun to go and observe.

For my three interviews I made sure to use validate, empathy, and probe because I knew using these three strategies would help me get the best results with my interview. I also knew using those three methods would allow the interview to run much smoother and be more of a conversation in which the respondent could feel comfortable and not pressured as if they are being judged, I tried turning into an informative, detailed, and friendly conversation that was in reality an interview. When conducting all my interviews I used my phone to record the conversation and sat my phone on the desk on the first two interviews with the recording going and the last interview which was conducted outside I just held it in my hand with enough distance for it to capture what was being said in the interview. As soon as I was done with the interview and got inside my car with the recorded interview I had a pen and notebook ready to jot down any additional notes, details, or comments that came to mind before they would leave my memory. During my interviews I also had a printed out interview guide which had all my interview questions which were related to the five concepts that I decided to focus on when conducting my observations and was now going to focus on when conducting the interviews. The interview guide did definitely help me make the interview run smoother because I had a layout of all the questions I thought were important to ask and it helped me make sure I would not forget to mention any important question about each concept.

All of my three interviews were not difficult to conduct because all of the three interviews were done on separate days and different times and the people who I interviewed were very open with the schedules and managed to give me some of their time to conduct the interview and help inform me about their organization better. The first interview I conducted was with one of the volunteers and he was very nice about being okay with the interview after figuring out what time and day worked best for him we finally decided to meet at the office in the church we both attend and that is also connected to the organization I am focusing on. We met at on a Thursday April 18 at 4:00 in the afternoon and the interview was 24 minutes and 50 seconds long and went very well. My second interview was with the coordinator of the organization and he is also a very nice person and was very willing to be a part of the interview. It took me a bit longer to be able to set a date for interviewing with him because of how busy he is with the organization on a daily basis. Although, he managed to make time for me and I interviewed him on Saturday April 20, 2019 at 8:00 in the morning and this interview was 14 minutes and 15 seconds long. He was very friendly and was also a great candidate to interview because of the many years of experience he has with this organization. As a coordinator he very well knows all the members of the organization and referred me to another member that he thought would be a great candidate. I had explained to him how I wanted to get different views and roles from the organization and he referred me to interview another great candidate which was my third interview and she is a board member of the organization. My third interview with the board member was also a great and successful one I obtained much information from her as well. I spoke to her the day I interviewed the coordinator and asked for her consent and then set an appointment to meet with the next day to interview her. The third interview was conducted on Sunday April 22 at 8:30 in the morning and we met outside of the building and took a seat on a bench, under a tree in the shade outside and conducted the interview. I was able to talk about all my five concepts during the three interviews which are frontstage/backstage, roles, meaningful action, looking glass self, and stigma. After obtaining all my interviews and thanking each person for all their time and information I was able to go home and transcribe the audio recordings into word documents by using the applications temi and autovoice. Both applications did not fully perfectly capture every word that was said in the audio recordings, therefore I did have to go back replay my audio interviews to correct and edit the wording on the transcripts. After having my audio interviews and the transcripts of the interviews I was able to upload my transcripts to the computer system called NVIVO and created "nodes" which would be like categories, for each of the five concepts that I focused on during my interviews. I created five different nodes and then went through each transcript of each interview to highlight every single section of it and code it into the appropriate node that each belonged to. After creating my nodes and going through the transcripts and coding them I then after created word clouds to help me visualize which words were being used the most during these interviews and how they are relevant to my research and five concepts.

To be able to obtain the most information possible for my research on the content analysis portion of my study I obtained 33 different sources to analyze. Most of my findings were through youtube videos in which I was able to convert into transcripts and that way be able to analyze each by document and be able to code under categories within the five different concepts. Other sources I used in my findings were news articles that were found through different web pages on google and I was able to obtain some information from their website that is connected to the Catholic Church they are a part of. And I was only able to obtain a few from their social media on facebook because they are not too involved in keeping it up to date but instead prefer to have monthly articles about their organization come out for the public to read and become informed on what is going on with the organization. I copied and pasted all the information I was obtaining onto a word document and I would make sure to put a title for each one and a side note of where I found it and whether if it was a news article, social media, documents, or transcribed videos. After having organized all my 33 different sources on my word document I then proceeded to upload the file on to NVIVO in order to code all my sources and categorize them into different nodes in which I labeled by each concept that I had applied to my study for the content analysis portion of my research study. I was able to go through each of my sources and code them under each node that corresponded to each phrase within all 30 different sources. Once uploaded to NVIVO I had the opportunity to code my nodes and when coding I did find them all to be very useful as each gave me different perspectives of the same organization. However, what was very interesting to see was how even the other couple organizations I obtained sources from, were not the same one I was studying, but they still shared all the same characteristics as my organization of study. It was a bit challenging to code under the nodes motivation and agency because of how very alike these two concepts are, however I managed to be able to separate the two and be able to code my sources under each distinct concept that was represented in the nodes with NVIVO.

My organization is not the best at keeping up with their social media which made it difficult to find much on facebook because they do not have a twitter or instagram as well. They had mentioned to me that they are working on becoming more active with social media, but it was unfortunate in my case because I was hoping to be able to obtain information from social media and be able to analyze that aspect of my organization. I was able to find a few on facebook although they are form the year 2015 which comes to show how this organization is not very involved with social media. Which makes sense because they are a very busy group all year long and do not always have the time to take pictures to post or to go online and post about their day at the organization but I do feel it would be a positive thing if they did because I am sure more people, would become aware of them and hopefully more good hearts would donate to their cause. It was not an easy process to obtain too many documents from my organization because they are a growing organization that has a lot on their plate everyday and is now trying its very best to have more content up on their media platforms. However, I was able to look at many other organizations that are very similar to mine and share the same goals within their communities which are to feed the homeless and all those in need. It was interesting to learn about these other organizations and to see how there is a common interest out there within people to help others and how my organization has great helpful people and how there are more out in the world as well.

Many of the sources I used for my analyzing of media for my research were mainly youtube videos because this is where I was able to find the most rich data primarily on my organization but also on the other organizations. The youtube videos of my organization were informational videos by people who have served in the organization and who gave detailed information about the organization itself and shared a little about their personal beliefs for being there and the organization's goals. I also was able to obtain information through news articles, documents, websites, and facebook. In order to better understand and analyze my organization through these different sources I coded them through NVIVO. I categorized all my sources into five different nodes which were diagnosis, prognosis, motivation, identity, and agency which have different meanings and when analyzed give a better understanding about what my organization and the others are about and what exactly causes them to be there every day helping their communities most of the time people they do not know. Being able to run a word cloud through NVIVO also helped me visualize what patterns were going on in my organization and the others as well.

Analysis

Frontstage/Backstage

During my observations on all three days I was able to observe situations with the front stage/backstage concept. This concept defines how a person will act different when with other people or in certain situations. Even though I was able to see this concept play out on all three days, I believe that where I was able to capture it the most was on my second day when observing the cooks in the kitchen. Everyone seems to be more themselves when they are back in the kitchen. There are more jokes and laughs as compared to the front where the volunteers are serving the food. On my first day when observing I seen the volunteers got along well and were very talkative but in the kitchen it was double the talking and laughs. It was all such a positive environment with music playing in the background while cooking. Two of the observations that I conducted while on my second day in the kitchen were,

"There was music playing in the background in the kitchen and it was coming from a                 small radio on a counter in the kitchen in a corner. It was not too loud but at a volume in which people could still have conversations and the music could only be heard in the kitchen area and was just happy music with no words just the sound. Most of the cooks were adult women but there were many men helping in the kitchen as well. They would all say good morning to whoever had just arrived to help in the kitchen and would smile. They would joke while cooking and dance a little or even sing while cooking."

This made me see how different the people and cooks who are helping are as in comparison to when they would walk out of the kitchen into the serving area they would still be friendly but try being more professional with the community they were serving. The very same day another situation that occurred in the kitchen that allowed me to connect it to this concept was,

"A cook came in to the kitchen with pain in her arm saying she burned herself while carrying a pot in and some tears came out of her eyes because of the pain. She resisted and did not show any emotion of being hurt in front of the community that was being served who saw her and said she was okay"

This was another form of this concept because she was trying to be strong in front of the rest to not seem weak or to not make others feel bad for her when in reality she was really hurting and did not show her feelings until she came into the kitchen and felt comfortable telling the rest of the cooks.

Roles

Roles in a society are given to every individual that help shape the way society functions and by observing my organization I was definitely able to see this concept. There are many different played roles in the organization I decided to do my research on starting with the leader, the cooks, the volunteers, the helpers for set up, the helpers for clean up, the dish washers, and so on. When conducting m observations I decided to break up my observations into three groups and focus more on each group within my organization everyday but at the same time be aware of everything else going on around me. So I was paying attention to all groups within my organization everyday that I observed but putting more focus on one each different day. On my first day I observed the volunteers and focused on them and this allowed me to see their role in the organization,

"The volunteer handed out the plate to the people waiting in line to get their warm meal and the other volunteer handed them napkins and a spoon or fork. Other volunteers are standing behind the tables set up in a row with snacks, fruits, bread and hand it to the people who come in to obtain breakfast and they greet them with good morning or a smile."

This showed me how the volunteers have a specific role in this organization and it deals with being the ones who are the most communicating and helping out directly with the people who come in for breakfast. They are the ones who have to talk to the people the most and have to be up in the front and are the ones who the people see the most. On the other two days I observed first the cooks in the kitchen and then the leaders of the organization so I was able to see their roles and how they play out within the organization,

"The women cooking are cutting vegetables, fruit, using the blender, making rice,adding spices to the food and trying to finish making the breakfast. At the same time they are communicating with the other cooks and helpers to make sure they are all on the same page and having everything done efficiently and on time. The older women seem to know the most about cooking because they are the ones telling others what to do in the kitchen to help finish the meal."

"The assistant leader walks all over the hall the whole morning with many duties by making sure everything is running smoothly and making sure there are no problems coming up and that everyone is doing there assigned roles. He walks into the kitchen looks around and asks if the food is coming along in time. He then goes to the back door to bring in some food items in boxes that he then tells all the cooks were donated."

After making my observations throughout the last two days of my observations I was able to really focus on the roles of the cooks and the leaders. They both play very important roles as well as the volunteers do too, therefore each of the roles they all play are essential to the functioning of the organization. I found it to be very interesting how even though the cooks are not considered leaders, when playing their role in the kitchen as the cook with the most years of experience, have some type of leadership over the rest of the cooks and helpers. This however seems to be a positive leadership because by having the most experience they are able to help out the rest by telling them how to cook meals and what goes next in the making of meals. This was interesting to me because these cooks are not given the title of being leaders but yet when in the kitchen they are the leaders leading the kitchen helpers to certain point. I also found very interesting to see how the actual person who plays the role of the leader in the organization is involved in every single aspect of the organization and how so many people depend on him to figure out what goes next and who should be playing what role and how it all turns out to work very well in the end for the organization with the way everyone's roles are set up.  

Meaningful Action

Meaningful Action is another one of the concepts that I was able to see play out while conducting my observations. This concept explains how people do things based upon others which means people take action or do certain things because of laws or situations that force them to in a way. I did see this concept in the organization I observed because almost everything that was done was to to help those in need. The fact that people in the community are starving and do not have any way of obtaining breakfast is what drives all the people in my organization to take action and do whatever it takes to serve them a hot meal for breakfast everyday of the year. On my first day of observations I was able to see this,

" The volunteer grabs two bags of cookies and a muffin and hands them to the woman who had a child with her before stepping out the door after finishing her breakfast."

This showed how a volunteer saw there was hungry child and mother that had their one meal of the day and would probably be there only meal and ran to give them some snacks before they left. This showed me meaningful action because this volunteers acted upon what he saw. I was also able to see this concept take place on my third day of observations because that day I focused my observations more on the leaders of the organization.

"Leader tells volunteers what to help in, when to start letting people in the doors, when to close the doors, signs off volunteer forms to show completed hours. There are many people waiting around the volunteer waiting to get their assigned task of the day before their busy day starts."

Meaningful action is all about action as a consequence and in my organization in this situation it was about the leader being in charge and having the authority to tell others what role to take or what to do. This showed how everything the volunteers do is in consequence to what the leaders tell them to do which also shows how this concept applies in many different ways in our daily lives and we do not all take the time to notice this.

Looking Glass Self

This concept expalins how people imagine what others will think of them and cuane their actions or behaviors based on that thouhght. I seen this in my organizaion with the volunteers they were all trying their very best to appear as very friendly with every one who walked in to obtain their breakfast and I also saw it in the leader who was trying to reflect being an effective and professioanl ledaer for the organziation.

"The volunteers smile at everyone who they hand a plate to and when they are done serving they look more relaxed and not needing to be still and smiling but instead realxed and lauging making more conversations with the rest of the volunteers."

The concept focuses on people being different because of what others will think of them. All of the volunteers wanted to give the impression of happiness to others coming in and if they looked sad it would not be a positive situation or experience for those people. The leader is also wanting to do his very best in his role because he wants the youth to look up to him and not mess around when helping but instead do things right and help as much as possible.

Stigma

The concept stigma is when a huge negative label is applied to a person that makes them be seen as worthless to the rest of society. This concept is one that takes happiness away from people and makes them be looked down upon and can have negative consequences that lead to the rejection of certain people in society. When observing my organization I was able to see how the people who come in to obtain a free warm meal each morning deal with these stigmas and so do the people who want to help them. The people who come in to obtain food are all labeled as lazy, homeless, crazy people which sounds extremely sad that people think and say these things of them but it is the harsh reality. On my first day of observations I noticed many families with children were coming in to get breakfast which made me see how not only homeless people need food but even people who have homes need food and struggle.

"A mother comes up to a volunteer and asks for another plate of food to take back home for her husband when he gets home. The volunteer goes and brings her a plate to take with her and she thanks him and smiles the children smile too."

This was such a moment that really made me think about how we as humans in society judge others without knowing what they are going through. This mother has to bring her children for breakfast on weekends because she does not have enough food at home and she has to even ask for another plate to take with her for her husband. This literally shows us how us placing negative labels on others does not make life easier for them but on the contrary stigmas bring people down emotionally and by other consequences as well.

"When I was walking back to my car after I had left my observation there was a man who was crossing the street leaving the hall very slowly and seemed to be homeless. The man dropped something and was slowly picking it up while a car was at the stop waiting and the man was taking long to cross so the man in the car yelled rude comments at him and in those called him "crazy", the man continued on his way without saying a word and the other speeded up and left in his car."

It amazed me to see how there are many rude people in society with no hearts and no patience. It seemed so unreal to me to witness a man who is need be judged so negatively and labeled by another man who instead of helping him is only making the other man's situation worse. The concept of stigma occurs in many peoples lives on a daily basis in this case the people in need who my organization helps and my organization is helping these people out with a small positive change that helps make a huge difference in these peoples lives on a daily basis.

Frontstage/Backstage

This concept is one that is not so much a part of the organization that I focused on and interviewed. With every different member that I interviewed I received the same answer when I would ask them questions relating to this concept. This concept describes how people or groups have a front side that they show the world and a back side that is most of the time kept purposely hidden from the rest of society on a daily basis or in certain situations. When I asked my group questions related to this concept they would all answer along the same lines and explain how in their organization there is no two sides to the story. They explained how they are all very transparent and they are the same with each other and the community and there is not much to hide from anyone because they are there to help and make the community better with no secrets.

"Uh, no, I actually, uh, people, if people know who I am as a person and I'm pretty I want to say I'm pretty clear. I'm pretty transparent because I feel like, um, as, as I'm with my volunteers, I'm with the community. Uh, uh, and a lot of actual, I've actually gotten a lot of the people from the homeless, stuff like that. They, they are like, I really liked that you're here, that you're the guy in charge because you are really nice to us and you really listen to what we have to say."

In my second interview with the coordinator, this is what he explained to me when asked questions regarding the frontstage/backstage concept and when interviewing the first person which was the volunteer from the organization he also had a very similar answer.

"Yeah, oh yeah every, every time when I go there, um, the same way that I'm at home, I'm, that's the same way that, I'm, that I'm over there at the organization because everyone, everyone is really friendly, like really friendly they're not they're not rude, they're not telling you stuff, they're not they're not making you feel bad."

Personally, I believe it is great that this organization can honestly say they are living in a front stage situation on a daily basis because it comes to show how great of a group of people they are and that have a good heart and are only trying to help those in need. There is nothing behind the scenes that is trying to be covered in reality they are friendly people that act the same way with everyone and the organization itself is pretty straightforward and is very opening for any person to come in and be a part of it and help make every person feel like family with no behind the scenes situations.

Roles

The concept of roles is what helps us see the way society functions and more specifically within every individual person that helps shape it each society. Every person plays a different role in society and serves a primary function that helps maintain society functioning. When conducting all three interviews I had the opportunity to ask each respondent about this concept. I was always careful to word in a way that would help them understand the question and the concept as well to be a able to give me the best possible honest answer. When interviewing them all they had very similar answers when it came to questions about roles and how it plays out in their organization and their lives as well. The first person I interviewed which was a volunteer from the organization, when asked about roles gave answers such as:

"everyone there, they have 'em their own role. You can say their own tasks that they need to be doing because there's, there's cooks, there's cooks, there's dishwashers, there's volunteers like myself. Um, there's also, there's this a leader, the one, that tells everyone what to do."

Hearing his response allowed me to see that in their organization there are many different roles that group members take part in which means not every person has the same task to conduct. His answer is very much connected to the way society functions because in society with the concept of roles members of society have different roles and not all people have one sharing role but instead multiple different roles.

"Oh yeah definitely because um, if someone doesn't do their task that messes, that messes the whole day up. That messes all of us up because at this organization, it's a, it's a fast paced organization. So you have to be going back and forth, you have to be doing, you have to be doing a lot of stuff and if someone isn't on task if someone doesn't do their task. We have to pick up after them. We have to do what they're, what they're doing."

Society as well as this organization would not function the same without the different played out roles. Everyone in society must be doing their part and doing their role in order for society to not have chaos and when asking the respondent about this he clearly states how his organization would have similar problems if one person's role is missing or is not being met. Everyone is important in society and many times we as people who live in such a fast paced world do not always stop and think about how important every human is for the functioning of this world.

Meaningful Action

This is another one of the concepts that I was able to present during my interviews through my interview questions and I can say this concept is very connected to this organization that I focused on. This concept focuses on how people do things depending or based upon others, therefore people take action depending on what others have implemented that sometimes forces them to do things. When conducting all three interviews I was able to see the same pattern throughout the answers to the questions related to this topic and the other topics as well.

"Well, I think that it has helped people to understand how many needy people there are in _____. A lot of people never see Uhh how can I explain that? You know, most of the people in _____ live in adequate housing, they work hard. But they are surrounded by other people who live in adequate housing and work hard. And so they don't really see that other side of life, that there are people different from them who really don't have the ability to house and feed themselves. And so that's, that's a big thing. I know a lot of our people come to volunteer from organizations, like _____comes. Uhh all kinds of people come in and until they get here they really don't see this part of our community."

When interviewing the third person which was the board member of the organization she explained to me the importance of the meaningful action concept through her answers. She explained how many people do not do much about helping others until they arrive to this organization and see the poverty with their own eyes. She also explains how in the community that is surrounding the organization there are many people who live comfortable lives and are surrounded by similar people with similar lifestyles and it is not until they volunteer that it shapes the way they view the world. It makes them take on different actions because of the poverty they see when they volunteer and it makes people take action and help make a difference.

"That, that takes their own time to, to go buy food, to make the food and to feed people that they don't even know. Because if you think about it, no one, no one wants to go spend money on, on people that they don't know…….. That's, that's what I've seeing they've been feeding a lot of poor people, a lot of people that I've seen on the streets, a lot of people that I've got, I've got the chance to see sleeping like in a park in the sidewalk. I've seen those people go in to this, to this organization and eat and leave like so happy."

As we continued speaking through the interview and asking my volunteer respondent more questions on this concept he kept on explaining how their actions are based upon the poverty that they are seeing. It was also interesting to hear him say how there are people who see this poverty and do not take action and this is because relating back to the concept these people are not forced to help. It switches the way of thinking on this particular concept because not all people will act unless they have to or it is forced upon them such as laws for example.

Looking Glass Self

This concept definitely was connected and is a part of the organization I studied because as I analyzed what was being said to me in the interviews I made the clear connections between both the concept and the organization. When interviewing the coordinator on my second interview I clearly saw how this theory was a part of them as well.

"It does. It does that because as I do, um, as a person I feel like I'm a really like a public figure here in _______ because I do my face, I want to say my face is, uh, out there in the face of a representing all the homeless people here in _____. So, uh, I like I have to be out there and, and behave and act in a certain way in which I be able to get people's trust at the same time, you know? But, um, certainly it does shape me and shape me. This whole being here shaped me to who I am, the person that I am and how I have to act and how I, what I need to do to be, to be able to carry out our ministry. "

In my second interview with the coordinator he explained to me how he sees himself as a public figure who is representing his organization so therefore he feels like he has to gain others trust and to be able to do that he has to make sure to act professional at all times. This comes to show how he clearly thinks about what people will think about him before he acts and that makes him decide what choice to make when he is going to do something or say something. That is exactly what this concept is all about which is people imagine how others will judge them and act according to whatever the thought many be. I also saw this concept connect with the organization in my first interview

"Yeah, because um, at this organization, they've always, they've always told us that having a bad attitude is not acceptable. It's not accepted there, because all of the people there, the cooks, everyone, every single person there, they're always they're always trying to give out good, you could say a good service, because everyone there they're always trying to be friendly like to like every single person that goes there to get fed."

My first interview respondent explained to me how this organization is always trying to put on a positive attitude for the community members who come and obtain a warm meal every morning. This is because they want them to feel welcomed, happy, safe, invited, and understood by the organization members. This showed me how they think about how their actions and behavior will be judged to a certain point by the community and will either have a negative or a positive impact on those people. Therefore, this organization thinks about what others will think when they see them and they want it to be a positive judgement so therefore they stay with a positive attitude throughout the day which did not sound very difficult for the organization to do because they already are positive people who are very welcoming.

Stigma

For this concept I was able to make connections and patterns with the people from the community who attend the organization for their breakfast services, I was not necessarily able to with the organization. This concept describes how people who have gone through some negative circumstance are usually seen as worthless by society and are not accepted the same by society as the rest of the people in society. When conducting all three interviews I understood how there were no negative labels being put on people in the organization and how it's actually the opposite of negative therefore this organization is actually a very positive place to be at. Many of the people who do come in to this organization are usually struggling with something in life whether it be at the moment or in the past. Many times society turns these people away and only bring them down instead of giving them a hand. Thankfully there are people out there who are a part of this organization and try their best to make the people who come in feel special and feel like they are cared for and understood.

"Yeah because the, over the years that I've been here about five years, uh, like I've gotten to know a lot of these homeless people and I seen the struggles that they've been going through and drug addictions and everything that they do. And I, and I have seen, you know, that not a lot of people will actually pay attention to them. And I do see it as I drive around through the community that they do get ignored or they do, uh, they're just on their own little world and, uh, and for me to, to be here as a part of just as, you know, even like just a smile. They, they're really grateful for that."

Hearing my interview respondent from the organization made me see how they really do care for the community and how the members of this organization know that these people who come in every morning are facing struggles out there associated with the concept of stigma. They realize they are facing stigma and many more negative things out in society and their goal is to help them see that they are there for them and that they want to give them all a hand and show them that they are cared for and that they are not alone.

" I'm sure it helps them a lot to be able to come here in the morning and be well received. They have a bathroom that they can go to safely, which is always clean. They have a place where they can sit and eat a meal, like a person at a table. All of those things I would think are important to their sense of self."

In my third interview the board member also mentioned when asked about this concept that they give them all the commodities that they can to the community to help them feel as comfortable and happy as possible. She mentions that when they go to this organization they have clean bathrooms to use and also a table to sit at when they are eating their warm breakfast, they treat them like "people". This to me was very interesting to hear because it is the sad truth but many people in society come to not see the homeless or those in need as people. Society leaves them alone to struggle and live on the streets or even starve with no compassion or care for these individuals who are just as human as the rest of us. It is important for society to stop judging people who are struggling so harshly and instead fix the problem by understanding what is really causing those poor people to be in such a situation. We should all be helping and not ignoring the poverty and hunger that exists within our very own communities.

Diagnosis

My first concept that I focused on to analyze my sources was diagnosis which was also one of my NVIVO nodes. This concept focuses on looking at what is wrong in society, in other words it raises the question of what my organization is fighting which in this case is hunger and at the same time people's health because with this everyday meal they are surviving and struggling just a bit less than they would be without this organization. All groups are trying to solve a problem although not all direct about it but I believe in my research it was said loud and clear that as an organization they are trying to provide food to fight hunger. This is why my organization exists and this is what they are all trying to solve.

"consejo say you're gonna take care of

that I need I need a coffee lady hey I

feel like it's an honor to serve the

church in this capacity I'm the

coordinator this is my third year

anniversary and I uh and I do it because

I love my church and I'd love to help

the people in need in the community as a

coordinator I am in charge of the food

has been ordered i'm in charge of

keeping the place in order make sure

that everybody gets fed and we have a

lot of help from the parish in the

community"

Prognosis

For my second concept I decided to focus on the concept of prognosis and it also became one of my nodes on NVIVO when coding my sources. The concept of prognosis is considered to be the solution and this is what the organization offers to do to be able to solve the problem. In this case with my organization what they offer to fix the problem is a free warm meal for breakfast every morning for free to everyone with no questions asked. This is also were my organization explains all ths the good they have done in the community and why others would want to join their group.

"s something that it's a

it's a feeling that you get when you see

the people that come in get a good meal

come around me with the people that are

there and have a sense that Jesus is

here with them the best thing that

happened is that the people come in they

recognize you even anywhere you go and

they know that what you're associated

with and they know that this is

associated with Jesus and the church"

Motivation

Motivation was my third concept and was alos one of my nodes through NVIVO when analyzing the different sources. This concpet expalins how the organization motivates others to get invloved and become a part of the oranization, in other words this concpet focuses on telling people why they should care aboout their topic. Motivation focuses on why the organizartion does the things they do.

"for me it was a personal choice to come

and support this ministry because I was

raised with the thought of we have to

give back to not just our community but

to our parish I was raised as a

Protestant so coming into the Catholic

Church I felt I needed to do something I

needed to do something because my

parents had always taught us we have to

give back so it gives me great joy that

I come here"

Identity

My foruth concpet is idnetity and this concpet has a us vs them view on society. This concept explains how the group will talk about who they are and the characteristics of the group. This is were the organization talks about what it is like to be a member of this organization and also who the organization is trying ot win over, therefore who they are trying to convince.

"the parish every

day there are seven different crews that

make this work seven days a week 365

days a year and I'm blessed just to know

that it's going on blessed occasionally

by showing up but I know that the many

volunteers our youth our seniors or

adults everybody that's able to pitch in

benefits from this work of mercy and so

not only the people who are hungry that

come to eat are blessed but everybody

who helps serve is doubly blessed more

blessed to give than to receive"

Agency

My last concept of focus for my 33 different sources was agency which was also my a node that included in my anlaysis through NVIVO. This concept focuses on empowerment stories and how they solve problems. This is were the organization talks about how they had people who moved on to do great things after joining their organization. This is the concpet that also focuses on giving people awards to show them and give them empowerment. Such as emotional payment when making someone a leader, with this concpet it explains that you can sole the problme and change things.

"I'm a dishwasher here on Friday and

Sunday mornings and pots and pans mostly

we don't do many dishes we use a lot of

paper and styrofoam I'm here because

there's a need in fact people ask me you

must really enjoy it well sometimes you

you don't really enjoy it but you know

there's a need I'm here to help"

Conclusion

Overall this was a great experinece for me, having the opportunity to observe this organziaion helped me understand who they are as an organization with a deeper understanding. I was able to see patterns and observe the different roles and the importance of each one in the function of the organization and how it functioning places positive consequences on the in need community. I enjoyed being able to observe in such a positive enviornment with very friendly people who are trying to make a difference in the community for thr good of others. Being able to interview these three individual group members has really been rewarding and amazing because it broadened my understanding of this organization and helped me see what a great job they are truly doing to serve their community. It was truly inspirational to see with my own eyes how there really are still people out in the world who are caring and who want to help make a difference. I truly enjoyed being able to study this great organization, I can see that it is doing great things for those in need and without even knowing it, it changing the lives of many people who are many times abandoned and left alone by the rest of society. I was able to understand this organization in a much deeper level now that I have conducted these interviews and had the opportunity to study them with more detail by applying concepts to my interviews and my analysis. The five concepts that I chose allowed me to make connections and see patterns within the concepts and the organization. I am able to see how society functions through these concepts and these organizations with a bigger understanding. I am grateful for this great opportunity and for all the knowledge I gained about this organization. Having the opprtunity to use these different sources and analyze them each through five different concpets hleped me understand my oranization at a much deeper level as well as it helped me see the different and similar patterns within its own organization and when comapred to others as well. I was able to see the way it plays a huge role in the community it is a part of and how lifes truely are changed for the better because of this organization and the many other similar ones that are out there.

Word Clouds

When coding through Nvivo I was able to run a query and obtain a word cloud. This word cloud shows the words that were the most common throughout my collected 33 sources and the pattern of words that were matched in all. Words such as food, people, church, community, catholic, help, and need are some of the most relevant that showed up the most. This word cloud does represent my research of all the documents because the main focus of my organization of study focused on the community and its hunger needs and making the change to help end hunger and make people's lives a little brighter and more positive. The word cloud is a representation of my organization and the other organizations that I analyzed as well which comes to show they all have a common interest and seem to share the same positive goals for the better of the community by not forgetting those who are in need. This was my word cloud for all of my combined three transcripts of my interviews. It does not surprise me that the most frequent word is people along with community and helping along with many others. It did not surprise me because this organization was all about helping others and making sure the poor are not left alone and especially not left hungry. This organization explains how they might not fix the world but they are trying to take small steps to help make a difference in their community and help change the lives of those who are starving and who would not have a meal if it was not for this organization. As I interviewed each different individual I was able to see patterns in their answers and it showed me that this organization works together and that everyone is on the same page and has the same goals and wants to make a positive difference in the world.