MLK Day of Service

Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service - January 20, 2020

This is going to be a different post than I normally write. I have to admit, I'm getting tired of baking the same things and writing the same things about them. As I continue to struggle with the should I/shouldn't I give up the blog issue, I decided to take a break and post a bit more about how I'm spending my time in retirement. I have a lot of thoughts running in my head, namely, that retirement doesn't change who you fundamentally are, but that's for a future post.

For today, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr and the MLK Day of Service, I wanted to showcase one of the nonprofits I volunteer at, namely the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. These pics are from the various distribution events I've gone to over the past 2 months.

I've volunteered at food banks back in the Bay Area, namely the Second Harvest Food Bank, but, because I worked so much, it's typically been (very) sporadic. I often didn't have the time or the energy or either. What I love about being retired now is I do have the time and I'm getting enough sleep to definitely have the energy.

My prior food bank volunteer experience has usually been helping sort and pack in their warehouse. I've helped out at the warehouse here as well but now I primarily volunteer at what they call their Mobile Harvest distribution. I try to do mobile harvest twice a week and I also help out at the food bank office every other week, helping them catch up on their data entry for volunteer activity. Based on working with other volunteers and meeting food bank clients directly, I wrote a note about the lessons I've learned by volunteering at the food bank. I'm posting an updated version here based on the additional learning I realized at last week's mobile harvests.

Things I Learned Volunteering at the Food Bank

Thanks to my current semi-retirement, I’m realizing my goal of volunteering more often and giving back to my local community. One of the nonprofits I now regularly volunteer at is the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. I try to volunteer at a “mobile harvest” distribution at least twice a week. Mobile Harvest is when the food bank sets up at a predetermined site to distribute food to its clients. As the name implies, “harvest” refers to the fact that the bulk of the food given away is fresh produce: grapes, tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, and other produce. Sometimes there are proteins like pork patties, eggs and dairy like milk. I’ve also done volunteer shifts at their warehouse and I go into the office itself every other week to help with their administrative tasks.

What I’ve learned during all my volunteer shifts:

• There’s a core of volunteers who show up faithfully at each one of these and I’m starting to recognize some of the “regulars”. They, like me, are mostly retired, although I’m still probably one of the youngest volunteers there. At first I thought they were also like me in that they are fortunate enough to be able to retire. Maybe they are. But I also noticed some of those die-hard volunteers are clients of the food bank themselves.
• Hunger has no race. I never take pictures of clients (just the food being distributed and the food bank truck) but I have seen a steady stream of Caucasians, Hispanics, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Middle Eastern and others I probably can’t easily identify.
• Hunger has no gender or age. Clients are both men and women, elderly folks pushing walkers, young couples with babies in their arms, mothers with children in tow, pet owners with dogs on leashes, single folks, middle-aged, old and young.
• Clients have jobs. I hear them talking about their work shifts, overtime, not taking sick days and working the night shift.
• Clients don’t “just take free stuff”. They are given the option to accept the allotted food from each station. Some refuse, saying they have something already and would rather that particular food “go to someone else who needs it”. Or, even more touching, they take their full allotment and talk about sharing their extras with their (often elderly) neighbors who physically can’t get out to a distribution event.
• Clients are grateful. Whatever their circumstance that leads them to being a food bank client, many are cheery, volubly thank the volunteers for what they’re doing and express their appreciation. Many look you in the eye, smile and say thank you.
• Clients help each other. As each person goes past each station to receive the allotment of food, they help each other with placing the items in their bags, wait patiently as the person in front of them takes a bit longer to get all of their items in order and don’t complain. Lines in retail stores at the mall could learn something here.
• Volunteers are an amazing group. We stand in the freezing cold for 90 minutes to 2 hours, setting up, cleaning up and breaking down the stations when it’s over. No one complains. One man uses a cane and has to sit for his shift but he shows up and has been showing up for the last 10 years. They are kind. They are respectful to the clients. They greet them like old friends. They have heart. They wait until the end before they take their allotment of the food distribution. Some of them have been volunteering for years.

I’m always grateful for the opportunity to give back. But I didn’t expect to receive so much in return. If you ever have a chance to do it, I highly recommend it. You will be repaid tenfold.