A Reflection

For this service learning project I have been volunteering at the Volunteers of America Food Bank in Everett. While volunteering, I have been given jobs including the restocking of shelves with extra food, passing out portions of food to families, and making sure everyone was getting the help in finding what they needed. So far I have visited a total of three times and put in nine hours. I have two visits left and I am sure they will be just as rewarding. The place where I have grown the most is my awareness for those in need while working at the food bank.
I had never known before this project, the amount of people that are struggling just in my own backyard. I had always heard people throwing out numbers of how many people are unemployed, poverty level, and homeless, but those numbers meant nothing until I saw the long lines we had at the food bank of people that were hungry and needed things to eat. There was a couple that were getting their food and supplies one day, but were having trouble picking things out because they lived in their car. The amount of items we could give to them that they could actually use was very small and I could tell they needed as much as they could get. I had never met nor seen anyone who lived at this level and I am glad to know that I helped them even in the smallest of ways.
The one thing that did surprise me about the food bank was the level of happiness of the workers, especially those who worked there full time. They are always laughing and joking with each other, which surprised me because I at first couldn’t understand why everyone was so happy in the face of so much struggle. But then I realized after coming back to work a few times that their level of happiness actually brightened the mood of everyone, both the volunteers and those who needed help.
Working at the food bank has been a wonderful experience and has broadened my view on the world just by a little bit of awareness. The happiness of the workers at the Volunteers of America Food Bank lift spirits and made the experience very enjoyable. I was glad to help even in the smallest of ways, and to know that someone or even a few people may be better off from my help.

Suffering In Every Corner of the World

My experience at the Volunteers of America Food Bank is similar to the experience of Greg Mortenson in the book, "Three Cups of Tea" , by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, in the sense that I had felt invisible at one point, as well as being overcome with grief at the sights I had seen.
In the book, Mortenson feels invisible at one point because no one would listen what he was saying about not promising to build a school for the village of Khane. “I never made any promise,” Mortenson tried, first in English, and then when no one seemed to be listening, he repeated it in Balti. But it was as if the largest person in the room had become invisible.” (Mortenson 89) I had a similar account to this, not as drastic, but I had the same feeling of anxiety and that I was invisible. When I had tried to leave the Food Bank since I was done with my shift, I needed to have someone fill my position at the freezer so that people could still get their food. I was running around in desperation, just trying to find someone in charge, but all I found was chaos. After about fifteen minutes of running around and asking people that completely ignored me, I finally found someone to take over my spot. Unfortunately it wasn’t over. I had to be signed out. The same process repeated for about another 10 minutes, asking for someone who had the authority to sign me out, but I seemed to just be a ghost screaming into the wind. As it turned out I had found someone who said they would sign me out later when she had time, but now im not at all sure that she remembered and what worries me is that my time wont be counted for.
Mortenson had discovered many heartbreaking sights when he first stumbled across the village of Korphe. They had no medical supplies, enough food but no luxuries, and worst off, no school. They were the definition of poverty. “Everything about their life was a struggle,” Mortenson says. “They reminded me of the way Christa had to fight for the simplest things. And also the way she had of just persevering, no matter what life threw at her.”(Mortenson 31) At the Food Bank I got to see this struggle first hand. It was heartbreaking to watch all of these people who came in, dealing with the difficulties of just trying to make ends meet, but still coming up short. I watched the families as they came in, picking food off the shelves, trying to find something nutritious or even a treat, but sometimes having to settle for what was there. I passed out my bags of frozen carrots, one measly bag per family of four, six, some of them coming to us with eight to feed. Passing out what we had to give, hoping that the carrots and maybe a warm smile from me would be enough, but they would come to me and say, “This will have to do,” as they place it in their bag. I couldn’t imagine a worse feeling than what they were going through, having to lose most of their pride just so they could have something to eat.
The experience I had at the Volunteers of America Food Bank was much like that of Greg Mortenson in the novel, "Three Cups of Tea". At one point in the book Mortenson had felt like no one was listening to him. I had a similar experience where people deliberately ignored my questions for help. In the book, Mortenson discovers a village in Pakistan that is of poverty and are struggling to survive. At the Food Bank, I helped a lot of people that were in a similar situation and felt their pain just as Mortenson had. It goes to show that people are in need in every corner of the world, and what it takes to help them out might just mean for us to suffer the heartbreak of realizing the struggles of others, and to jump in and get our own hands dirty.

Introducing the Volunteers of America Food Bank

The place where I will be completing my service learning project is at the Volunteers of America (VOA) Food Bank in Everett. Hunger is becoming more and more evident every day, and the VOA Food Bank is doing everything they are capable of in trying to eliminate this problem, one bag of groceries at a time. Donations of food in bulk are given to the facility and it is up to the volunteer members to break down the inventory into portions that can be distributed to families (http://www.voaww.org/voa5.cfm?SectionGroupsID=15&SectionListsID=27&PageID=191). Today was my orientation at the VOA and I got to meet so many friendly volunteers that showed me what I would be doing and who I would be helping which is mainly sorting out portions of food and customer service. There is no discrimination at the VOA; anyone who is struggling can find help there. The most common visitors are seniors and children who are on very fixed incomes and are really in need of help. People that have families and make enough money to pay bills sometimes come up short in the food department and they are in need to be able to feed their families. Today I got the tour of the Food Bank, and though I havent yet worked a shift, I've gotten the idea of how an average day will turn out. There will be a lot of sorting foods onto shelves, and helping people find their way around the area and getting them what they need. The food is in good quality, but not so much in quantity so it will be difficult to ration out what is available to those who have a family of five or six to feed. I can already imagine the smiles of the people I help as they are relieved to feel that they will be able to have something to eat instead of starving till their next paycheck, or lack thereof. Everyone at the bank was friendly and helpful and I cant wait to start my first shift. I chose the food bank because I wanted to learn and find out just how hard it is for people that live so close to my area, and hopefully find out some of their harships so it will feel even more rewarding helping them in their time of need. I have also been meaning to start helping those in need in various ways but Ithink that the VOA Food Bank will be the best start.

Just Starting Out

This is my first post and I am really excited to begin Service Learning. I hope this will be just the start I need to begin helping out others more often.