January 20th, 2025

We started our morning at 7am . Some showered, while others ate. For a little bit we just hung out and got ready for the day. We left for LifeWise at 8:50am. It was just a short walk across the street! At LifeWise we went through what the plan would be for the day. We looked at some poverty statistics and played an online game called Spent to simulate living in poverty. One thing was having to make hard choices, for example, your dog gets sick but you have to make the choice of getting it treated which is a lot of money, getting it put down for not a lot of money, or letting it suffer. However, you also have to think about your monthly income and all of the other payments that you have to make in a month. You make tough decisions that could lead to you having no money and losing the game. For us it was just a game, for others it's real life everyday decisions that they have to make to keep themselves afloat. 

After that we went home for lunch. We had a mix of things, but most had sandwiches. After lunch we went back to LifeWise for our service. We spent the day setting up games and activities for tomorrows service, where we will spend the day with some younger kids, (3-5 years old). Then, we helped disinfect some classrooms. We cleaned tables, chairs, and the toys for the kids. After that, we went back to unwind before we headed to the arch. At the arch we walked through the museum and the shop. After a while we met up and made our way towards where you get up the arch. We got in these cool capsules that brought us up to the top. We made it to the top to an amazing view of Illinois and Missouri. After the arch we came home and some had showers while Carson, Liana, and Kalie made dinner, tacos. And that was our first real day of our ACE trip!

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