A Fun Opportunity To Do Good

Hubby Tony found a two hour volunteer opportunity for today in the area affected by the May tornado. He asked if I was interested in signing up. I was.

This one took place at a church not too far from our last shift. When we arrived, I knew we were in the right place when I saw the banner indicating the church was a location for FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) assistance. After figuring out which door to go in, we found the church office, where we were greeted by an assistant pastor and escorted to the food pantry area. 

The food pantry was a large room lined with rows of donated perishables (fruits, vegetables, bread, and pastries) and a few large displays of processed snack foods. Looking at the packaging, I could tell by the price tags or brands where they had come from.

We had to wait for about ten minutes for the manager of the food pantry to show up. She told us they were normally open on Thursday, but closed today for the Fourth of July holiday. However, several people showed up looking for food and no one was turned away.

There were four one-time volunteers, and several people who knew what they were doing. Since there would be no official food pantry until next week our first task was to bag up the bakery products to move to another location where they could be frozen. By the time we were done, a minivan and two sedans were crammed with boxes and bags of bread, rolls, bagels, and buns.

Unfortunately, some of the fruit and produce was past its prime, so the next step was to separate the good from the not so good. Eventually the discarded stuff filled a huge cardboard watermelon box, which was moved to a pallet outside so the janitorial department could deal with it.

Close to the end of my shift I was able to help a lady get her food. I pointed out the different items, and she told me if she wanted them or not. After she made her selections, one of the permanent volunteers got her a bag of meat from a chest freezer in the back area. I walked with her to her car and put her things in the back. When we were done she thanked and blessed me, which made me feel good.

Rawpixel

I couldn't believe how fast the two hour shift went. After we signed out, the food pantry manager invited us to come back again. As we were walking out the door, a driver from the food bank arrived, saying he had pallets of donations to drop off. There was a big panel truck with the food bank logo in the parking lot.  It would have been interesting to see what it held.

Five years ago: Financial Freedom