I did my first volunteer shift at a neighborhood food pantry today. It was over at the elementary school across the park, where Ben went. The person running things seemed a little harried, but did take the time to show me how to stand behind several bins and ensure proper distribution:
- One or the other of a packet of spaghetti noodles or a pound of white rice
- One can of tomato paste, sauce, or diced tomatoes
- One jar of peanut butter
- One or the other from a box full of ramen, canned fruit, and other stuff or baby food, apple sauce, white vinegar, soy sauce and cooking oils
The station to my right had Funyuns and Nerds candies, and they were allowed to give away three of either. The station to my left had assorted meats: Hamburger, chicken thighs, and a few racks of ribs. Further down the way there was a vegetable person who had purple onions and some other vegetables.
The shift started with number distribution: A bit over 100 people lined up, and each got a token out of a plastic bin. The first person got number 1 and that made everybody laugh. The coordinator asked me to please keep an eye out for people slipping past the guy controlling the line to get a second number. Once the numbers were distributed, everyone came back into the area in front of the tent we were set up under and starting filing past.
I spent about an hour pointing to the spaghetti and rice bins and saying “this or that, only one” a lot. Some folks tried to grab both, and at first I’d say “oh, no … just one or the other” but the people on either side of me faced with similar situations just firmly took the second item out of their hands, so I started doing that.
There was a small ripple down the line when someone lifted a pound of white rice out of the bin and discovered a different kind of rice with a more colorful label and maybe more of it. That caused a few people to double back and swap their rice out. When I ran out of peanut butter to distribute one of the other volunteers dumped a box of small Nutella knock-off jars into the bin, which didn’t move super fast. Eventually, I was out of rice, but the Funyun station was in fine shape. I spotted a ton of extra boxes of that behind the line. Thanks, Funyun patron.
After distribution was mostly over a few people who couldn’t get numbers came through, then I helped break down the tents and haul what was left back to the supply room, then grabbed some gloves and disinfected all the meat storage tubs. The coordinator was curious about what I was doing there. Given the application process and time sheet, I guess some volunteers are fulfilling a community service obligation. I just explained that I’d searched for volunteer opportunities, wanted to support the Oregon Food Bank, and saw this location, which is just a five minute walk away. So I think I’ll be going back every Wednesday: I’m giving up my lunch and the company is giving me up from 1-2 in the afternoon.