At the end of 2011, my wife Jen and I decided we would give of either our time or our money at least once per week in 2012. We decided to donate at least two hours of our time or at least $25 each week. As we began the new year, many of our friends were interested in our new commitment, and so I decided to write about the organizations we work with and the experiences we have. The stories told here are meant to shed some light on volunteering - the kind of work that is out there, and the clientele that is served, and to provide information about who is making a difference out there, and what you can do to help. Please come back often and share our experiences as we move through our giving year.

Also, we are always looking for new organizations to work with, groups that are doing good work and could use either our hands or our money. If you know of a volunteer opportunity or worthy cause, please leave it in a comment. Thanks for your help!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Week 10 - Lakeview Pantry, third visit

This week we went back to the Lakeview Pantry.  We are finding that every time we go there, we want to sign up again because we have such a good time.  In fact, that phenomenon is something I have been meaning to mention as sort of a side effect of our adventures in looking for places to volunteer.  Basically, everywhere we have been we want to go back to, not just because they do good work, but because we had a great time!  We have met many wonderful people from all walks of life, had some wonderful conversations, learned about things we knew nothing about, and have started to make some new friends.  This week we got to see pictures Carrie's (the woman who runs this location of the pantry) baby daughter.  It sounds a little strange to talk about the personal benefits of volunteer work, since that is not why we do it, but those benefits are there nonetheless.  Already, only ten weeks into this, it is safe to say that Jen and I will keep volunteering on a weekly basis for a long time because it is both fun and fulfilling.

I think the personal benefits of volunteer work account for another surprising trend we have seen.  At every place we have worked, we had to struggle a little to get a spot on the crews because so many people are doing this kind of work.  When we started talking about volunteering, it was sort of from a place where we thought that there was a strong need for workers.  Now, don't get me wrong - there is a need, but rather than being close to understaffed, all the places we have been actually have to turn people down.  I mention this not because I want to discourage people from volunteering, but because it made me feel better about humanity in general and the people in this city to know that so many people are giving of their time.  While there might be no shortage of workers, there is still a tremendous shortage of services.  The places we have worked help a lot of people, but there are many more who still need help.  What I hope, as I consider all of the people who want to volunteer, is that the eagerness of these people will allow for and encourage expansion by organizations that are doing their good works.  Of course, that requires more money, which I hope some of those eager workers will also consider as an option when they can't actually come work.  After spending some time in the volunteer world, I am continually inspired to see how much is being done, and to imagine how much more potential is out there in the city.

And now...back to the Pantry.  As usual Jen and I had a lot of fun.  We were working with a few new people and a few that have been working on the same schedule as we are.  Those people are getting to be friends of ours.  We both handed out food this time and actually got to work next to each other, which we had not yet done.  The work keeps us from interacting too much, but it was still more fun to work together.  There was a distinctly smaller crowd this time, with nearly as many people back for the weekly allotment of bread and veggies as there were for the full load of food.  Most of the time, there are lots more people collecting the full portion of food.  As usual, the patrons were grateful and friendly, even cheerful.  Since we had a little extra time as a result of fewer patrons, I had a chance to talk with Carrie about some of the skills Jen and I have from our lives in the theater that might be of use around the pantry.  Mostly, this involved carpentry, but she also perked up when I told here we both knew how to drive large box trucks.  I came away with a couple projects to consider in my spare time, from a small ramp at the door way to a caddy to give people a place to keep their carts while they are getting food. (Lots of people bring collapsible grocery carts, but all those carts make it hard to move through the pantry during the busy times.)  It will take a little while for me to get to all of these projects, but it was great to find out about ways to help that require our specific skills.  We are really beginning to feel like part of the community at the Pantry, and I am sure we will continue to work with them long after our giving year is over.

You can learn more about our experiences at the Lakeview Pantry by checking out my previous posts in Week 5 and Week 7.

You can learn more about the Pantry at their website:

Lakeview Pantry
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1 comment:

  1. CarrieMarch 13, 2012 at 10:13 AM

    Ed, glad you and Jen are having fun while you volunteer. Sounds like you are starting to understand why we informally tell the volunteers they are part of the Lakeview Pantry family.

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