Helping At My Church Food Pantry

During my second week of my community health hours, I was placed at River City Food Bank. River City Food Bank’s main goal is to lessen hunger in the Sacramento region by offering healthy food and assistance to vulnerable populations. They do not only provide healthy food but they also provide nutrition education and counseling. In addition, they provide diapers for babies and the older population. They also provide health services for mothers and assist them with contraceptives and other important education for their women daily life. Their mission is to help people from all ages, from homeless to the working poor and families who are struggling.

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience of the workings of the Houston Food Bank and the concepts discussed during the course which were demonstrated through our volunteer experience.

One way of helping the homeless is by volunteering at your local homeless shelter. Volunteering is a very beneficial way of helping the homeless. “The most productive way to get started helping the homeless is to join forces with a well-established operation.” (“4 Ways You Can Help the Homeless in Your Community”) As said in the quote, join forces with a well-established operation. When you volunteer at your local homeless shelter you are not only helping your community out, but you are also helping the homeless in and around that area. “Volunteer your hobbies - Every one of us has something we can give the homeless. Wherever our interests may lie -- cooking, repairing, gardening, and photography -- we can use

When the f-5 tornado decimated the town of Smithville on April 27, 2011, a whopping 15 people were killed, 40 people injured, 18 homes destroyed, and two businesses were annihilated. (National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office) Without the help of various organizations, like the Salvation Army, Smithville would’ve never recovered from the horrifying disaster, which made me wonder what the Salvation Army does, what a volunteer needs to do, and what the benefits are of a volunteer.

By having your friends and family donate canned goods, you can make a difference. If a person skips the coffee shop for one day, that money could go towards giving a hungry family a meal. By creating a food drive, others can help these families as well. There are countless ways to through a food drive. You can have a competition with your friends to see who can gather the most food. You can collect donations from your coworkers. You can even have a gift party for your friends to come in with the canned goods. Be creative and have fun while helping fight hunger. By collecting food, you will provide a meal to those who do not have a guaranteed chance of eating. To create a food drive, visit the link

During the time I spent volunteering at John C. Lincoln’s Food Bank, I was able to provide food, individual hygiene items, and infant supplies to families struggling to obtain these critical items for their families. When I first arrived at the food bank, I spent time constructing care packages with soap, toothbrushes, personal wipes, and other essential items for health care. Later in the day, I had the unique opportunity to assist with the simulated grocery store within the food bank. The structure of the store allowed individuals receiving food to feel as though they were actively participating instead of passively accepting food and feeling helpless. Overall, I was able to instill a sense of self-efficiency in individuals who were struggling to provide for their families while personally interacting and sharing my time in a meaningful way.

By serving others, I improve not only their lives, but also mine. My church often reaches out to the community and serves them according to their needs. Whether the members of our community need food, shelter, clothes, or school supplies, we are happy to help. I find these service projects satisfying because I get to see my impact I have on society. The look of joy and relief on a person’s face as they receive the the first meal they’ve had in days, or gotten the help they need for their children is priceless and completely unforgettable.

This particular article is written by Patricia A. Duffy who states that low income families use the food pantry for emergence assistance for food, aside from the traditional government programs; this article suggests that food pantries are heavily used for emergency food (Duffy). The article focuses more on lower income families instead of the homeless. It compares food stamp programs along with the food pantry to understand how they both tie in to one another. There are various statistics and interviews of those who participate in such programs across the nation.

Two years ago, I was sitting in a dimly lit packing room, wedged between a stalled out pale yellow refrigerator and a stack of boxes, packed to the brim with all sorts of canned fruits and vegetables. People worked quickly here, moving boxes from one corner of the room to another, creating a rhythm of sorts. Thump. Swoosh. Thump. Swoosh. The boxes left in droves as lines of people congregated around the open warehouse door with open hands ready to accept what was offered while statements of gratitude leapt from their tongues. The amount of people waiting outside far outnumbered the volunteers, but the volunteers worked hard, they knew they had to today. It was 104 degrees outside and some of these people standing in line, with children in tow, had been waiting for hours. It was distribution day at the South Texas Food Bank and I was there to help.

During the break the volunteers asked us several questions. From what I gathered all of the volunteers also need the assistance of the pantry. Many asked us how they could help us, assuming we had fallen on hard times. I assured them they we were just there to help them and donate our time. Volunteers receive each goods in their boxes in return for their help.

“We are Chicago's Jesuit Catholic university - a diverse community seeking God in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.” In attempt to fulfill this mission as a student of Loyola University of Chicago, I decided to volunteer at the Lakeview Pantry. Personally, I believe that this was the most efficient way to effectively volunteer while being myself. I aim to either cultivate or participate in physical change, and at Lakeview, I could.

During this semester's service learning project, I chose to serve at a community organization called Church On Wheels, Breaking Bread Soup Kitchen. Every night Monday through Friday Breaking Bread opens its doors to the community and provides a meal at no cost. Their mission statement is simple: To carry the gospel of the Lord through feeding the hungry and helping those in need. With this Christ-like love to His people, every night employees and volunteers come together to provide a meal that does not only feed them physically but nourishes the soul of everyone that enters the doors. Within the city of Midland, Texas you will find a diverse culture and community. Due to the recent oil boom, many families found themselves struggling to put a meal on the table. Breaking Bread saw the need in the community to open the doors every night to see that no one would go hungry in our town. With a commitment to see that the poor and needy are served with the love of Christ. On any given night you can expect to find

The Food Bank volunteering helped me become a better person. Before this program, I didn’t really value of the food that I have every day or the food that I through it away because I did not like it. I did not realize there are many hungry people, right in our community, go to bed at night and their stomach are empty. After helping out at the Food Bank and talking to Sydney, I stopped eating food for fun. Now, I only eat what I need and keep the rest for next meal , instead of buy everything or coke more than what I need and ended up throwing half of the meal away just because I couldn’t eat it all. Also, after going to the Food Bank a few times, I learn that small things in life can make big differences. For example, MSU Food Bank is collecting

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is a non profit food distribution organization that serves Northeastern Ohio and was founded in 1979. The organization seeks to bring nutritious meals those that are most affected by hunger and poor nutrition in the region, such as low income families and elderly. The organization is headquartered on the eastern side of Cleveland, OH. 1

Have you ever wondered where you would rest your head at night? Where you would find your next meal? How would support your family given unforeseen sudden circumstances? I’ve never thought about the importance of these questions until a recent experience I had volunteering at a food pantry. There are organizations whose main purpose is to help those in need and provide resources to members of the community who are going through difficult times. A food pantry is a non-profit community serviced organization that provides members of the community with groceries and resources. From volunteering at this food pantry I learned more than ever to never “judge a book, by its cover”, or in other words, even though I person may look well put together on the outside, you never know what it is they are dealing with on the inside. I’ve encountered homeless members of the community, people who have suffered from physical abuse, and people who have experienced unexpected disasters such as house fires to expected job layoffs while volunteering at a food pantry. I’ve also come to appreciate everything that I have in my life from the roof over my head to the food in my stomach and that some people are less fortunate than me.