written by Marnie Schilken
Dear Volunteer:
You may volunteer at our warehouse where you are in charge of placing one can of green beans into every box that passes by, and then you push that box to the next person. A new box arrives. You place the can of green beans. You pass it along. A new box. A new can of beans. Pass it along. Over and over and over again.
Or you may volunteer at a drive-up distribution in the pouring rain where you are loading boxes into the trunks of cars that pass by. “Is it in park? Please pop the trunk.” Thumbs up. This car is ready to go. You wave and smile as that car leaves and another pulls up. “Is it in park? Pop the trunk, please.” Over and over and over again.
Or you may volunteer to handle phone calls with folks who need SNAP to get some financial relief. You log in to start your shift and there is a long queue of people to call back. You make call after call after call. People tell you their stories about how much they are struggling. Every caller is struggling. You stay upbeat and help as best you can. Filling out one online form after another. So many folks with so much need. Over and over and over again.
Or you may do some other volunteer work that is not easily seen but is vital to the Food Bank.
What it boils down to is that volunteering at the Food Bank is not the most glamorous work. It’s not work where you see an immediate result. Like much of Life, its work where you play your part and contribute to a sum that is greater than just your part.
I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do to contribute to the Food Bank. Every can of beans that you load. Every box you place in a trunk. Every SNAP application you submit.
I appreciate what you do because what YOU do means that another senior citizen receives their food that month. Another homebound individual gets their delivery of food. Another box of nutritious food is place in another trunk of a car so that someone can take it home and cook it and feel happy. Another individual gets help to stretch their limited income even further.
So, you may think that you are just packing cans of green beans, or loading up the trunks of cars or handling phone calls.
What I think… no, what I know is that you are contributing to the HAPPINESS that our neighbors in need feel when they come to the Food Bank in crisis and the Food Bank is there for them. That’s what you contribute to. Over and over and over again.
And for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.