Sunday Afternoon at the Food Bank
Posted by Cate Puzo on Wednesday, November 18, 2009
On a Sunday afternoon, 40 near-strangers with strong backs, open hearts and willing hands spent a couple hours sorting donations and packing bags of weekend food for 795 needy kids. This was my second experience at the Capitol Area Food Bank in Washington, DC, both of them during Share Our Strength’s Conference of Leaders. Last year, the experience motivated me to spend a few hours each week volunteering at my local food pantry, now one of the highlights of my week.
This year I was struck by how much work it takes to get food to families that need it…and how much joy that work provides.
Hundreds of cans of applesauce, carrots, diced tomatoes and tuna, boxes of mac ‘n’ cheese, and granola bars were donated, weighed, dated, inventoried, then picked and stacked before we even arrived that Sunday. Plastic bags to hold the food for each child, boxes to hold the filled bags, tape to secure the boxes, scissors to cut the tape, plastic to shrink-wrap bundles of filled boxes, markers and paper to label the bundles, pallets and a fork lift to move them—all these had to be donated, stored and kept in adequate supply so our group had what it needed to pack those 795 bags of weekend food.
All we had to do was organize ourselves into work stations and make up a functional human assembly line. It felt really good to be with this happy, like-minded group of hunger-fighters, knowing that nearly 800 D.C. kids would have food next weekend as a result of our efforts.
Like last year, I returned home wanting to do more. So I’ll be packing holiday food boxes for needy families in my community. Why don’t you do the same? Visit Get Local to find a food bank or Share Our Strength grant recipient in your area. Ask them how you can help them this holiday season.
Then go do it—it will be one of your fondest holiday memories. I promise.
November 18, 2009 | | Tags: conference of leaders, food banks, volunteering
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