Food Bank Volunteering

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.

I met with Maria Thompson and Mark Paxton from the Community Food Bank in regard to their site improvements. The Food Bank is requesting CSDC administer a contract with Avila Construction for their site improvements to San Felipe Rd frontage and parking lot improvement that access their building. The contract amount is $57,461.The Food Bank Board has approved the expense and repayment in full to CSDC if we choose to administer the contract. A repayment agreement between the Food Bank and CSDC would need to be drafted prior to approving any contract.

Community service, as I have come to learn, is all about taking the initiative to help someone in need, no matter their situation. As the verse Matthew 25:35 says above, it is our job to share God’s love through serving those who are hurting right in front of us. These people are strangers, we may not know them, but that does not mean they should not be helped. Over the course of my life I have had the opportunity to participate in a multitude of service projects, but the one I am most passionate about is the Harvesters Community Food Network.

I love the idea of providing students with a variety of opportunities that would satisfy each student's needs. Whether its research, volunteering and community service, it all is provided here. The curriculum also allows for a great amount of flexibility enabling students to pursue these other interest that would make them very competitive for residencies. I have a great interest in practicing in underserved communities upon graduation, therefore every opportunity I get to volunteer in clinics and shadow physician in underserved regions is something I look forward to here at Western University of Health Sciences. Likewise, the diverse student body is great as each student come from various backgrounds and have unique experiences all of which

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.

In my community many people do not understand the struggles of kids with serious illnesses and the financial and mental toll it has in the parents. To have more understanding of the problem I encourage people to volunteer at hospitals to gain more knowledge about the problem.

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.

My community service experience at All Souls Friday Soup Kitchen taught me the impoverished population of New York City and myself. The volunteer work pushed me to better myself in several areas. Serving the diners helped me expand my social skills with fellow workers and customers by forcing me to communicate with others. Also, setting up and deconstructing the dining room helped grow my management skills by having me order where the plates, mugs, etc. should be placed. Most importantly, working at the kitchen helped humanize the poor population of New York City for me. Often on the subway and on the sidewalk, I try my hardest to avoid the homeless man or woman begging for money, acting like they didn’t exist. Gratefully, my experience at

I wasn’t aware of the importance of doing good for others, until recently that I witnessed it with my own eyes. It all started when was at Chicago, a random man helped out a homeless man and bought him some food. I noticed as I was in line that the cashier then gave the helping man a free choice to pick something he wanted due to the action he did. After that day I began to make an attempt at helping out more and being a better person in general.

The happiness that I received from giving to the needy has helped better prepare me for my job and it has given me special skills to help me with my current and future job. Jonathan E. Booth wrote,“Wilson emphasized that knowledge acquired from volunteering can lead to socioeconomic achievement in the workplace, which may result in a more positive reputation on the job, help in finding future work, or enhancement of the quality of [the current] job (Booth Pg 233).” The knowledge that I left with after feeding the homeless has helped me to be effective in job and my everyday life. It has helped me to have a more positive attitude and has made me more equipped in my job and my hobbies. Mr. Booth said,“While

I have volunteered our local chart choose around my neighborhood that have partnered up with the Houston food Bank . Once a month on a Saturday the Houston food Bank sends a truck full of food and the church distributes the food to people in need around the neighborhood. I along with others would work behind the scenes and package all the food into a box and prepare for it to be distributed. Volunteering for this cause was super fulfilling. Regardless the hot weather I would wear again I knew that it was going to such a good cause. Just imagining a family who would otherwise struggle to have a meal to eat would now have a whole feast f have a whole feast ready on their table for their families.

It was my first time ever volunteering for something. I believe I was more nervous because I didn’t know exactly what I was going to be doing and I didn’t want anything going wrong my first time. When I showed up to the mobile pantry it was completely different. Everyone volunteering was very friendly and helpful. They all work together as a community which is admirable. I was a stocker at the event. A stocker is one who is in charge of stacking tables with produce and disposes of empty boxes or makes them available to participants. I definitely enjoyed this because it opened my eyes of how many families out there are in need. Sometimes we take for granted what we have while other people wished they had what we do. I believe the Denton Hunger Coalition is a great organization that has many goals they want to accomplish and will continue to grow. One of the weaknesses the organization has is getting more people to come out to the food pantry. Since they are just starting some of the agencies out there maybe forget to promote them which is why many people don’t know about the pantry. Although, one of their strengths is that Denton community comes together as one in order to help others. I believe my volunteer time was of value to the agency because they were able to work faster with an extra pair of hands. I enjoyed volunteering and helping others

Volunteering to feed the homeless is truly an eye opening experience to what reality is. There is an estimated one hundred million homeless people in the world who are starving and are trying to find a way to survive. On a day-to-day basis, we see homeless people everywhere such as on the streets, by the freeway asking for money so they can feed themselves, or maybe even feed their own family. One day, my mom and I decided we had to take action after witnessing so many homeless people on the streets.When people are in such a difficult situation, their only option is to beg for money because they have no roof over their head, and no food to eat. Many of these people are suffering from their own decisions, unemployment, or for other personal reasons. There are many homeless people who are sick and suffering from severe mental illnesses. It breaks my heart seeing homeless people in the streets, so I knew I had to take action and help out someway. The experience of volunteering to feed the homeless was most certainly a life changing experience. It made me realize how grateful I am for my life, how important it is to help those in great need, and to never take a meal for granted or roof for granted. This event was one that happened in the spur of the moment but has also changed me as a a person by becoming more involved and helping out more in my community , learning to never taking anything for granted, and by not assuming all homeless people are bad people as such.

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.

I have learned the importance of serving others by being a part of the youth group at my church. Every fourth Sunday of the month, my youth group takes snacks to Holston Valley Hospital. We go to most of the