Throughout life I have volunteered with my mother for various reasons. Help set up a community race or help enter data for the High School’s Parent Teacher Student Association. However, these were just things I did, not because I necessarily wanted to or because they looked good to the community, but because my mom told me to. That was fine with me, the events never took much time or were too complicated and I was able to spend time with my mom while completing the tasks. However, in high school I learned from my volunteer opportunities, and I cannot say my life is quite the same. My mom wanted me to experience more in life, but the act of volunteering was something that I needed to discover on my own.
This year I have been given the opportunity to both volunteer in and hold a food drive for the local food bank. From Volunteering I have learned about the people who come use this assistance. Many people only come one time, others come because they have lost a job, or need a little bit of food to help feed their children. None of them have been selfish or greedy. If we are giving out dried beans among other things, and they have a cupboard full of dried beans, they will leave them for someone else, who may just need them more. The very first think I learned was to get rid of stereotypes. When I first walked into the food bank I had to wipe out every misconception of food bank users, because they are not true.
One thing that really surprised me with this volunteer service was the relationships that I formed. I expected to possibly make relationships with other volunteers, but I did not expected to make connections with the food bank patrons. There is one lady that I will always remember. Every week she came in with pictures of her new born baby to show us. I came to expect and get excited to see this lady, and her baby. One or two times she even brought in her baby, and she was even cuter in real life. Another girl, who was a college student, would come in and tell me about her week. Her stories and experiences really inspired me, because she was just trying to get through college. Through the food bank, this has became a reality for her. The people I met while volunteering at the local food bank are people that I will never forget.
Programs such as food banks would not be able to run without the use of volunteers. Volunteers are the people who sort, distribute and collect the food. Through the food drive that I held, I was able to raise 3,588 pounds of food, enough to feed over 100 people for a week. Some days when I went to go collect food I wondered why until I realized back to the cause that I was giving back to. When the patrons of the food bank receive food they are able to pay their bills, and stay off the street. Without public assistance programs such as these poverty and hunger rates would be a lot greater in many towns. I never before really understood the scale of this program before. Once or twice I had driven by the Food bank on my way home from school during distribution hours and I saw the people, but before they were just faces. Before volunteering, I never put the people with a name and a story. Every single person who walks through the doors of the food bank has a story that is distinct from one another.
My work at the food bank, both collecting donations, and volunteering may seem menial in the scheme of things. However, without this work being done many people in my community would be left hungry, and more children in my community would be going to bed hungry. To many, the food bank, is a program to help people get back onto their feet when they have fallen, and to be able to live a greater life. Very few people live their whole lives using this aid, and most quit going once they are able to buy their own food. I found through my work that volunteers are needed for most public assistance programs to make them run smoothly, because the few paid workers are not able to do everything themselves.
Through this experience I learned what volunteering can do for my own life. I feel good helping others and knowing their life is a little bit better due to my help. Even if it is just by smiling and having them smile back. Before I always thought volunteering was something to do to get into college, or to do to look good by others. However, it really is not. It is an act for me to help my community. I live in this town, and I live among a great diversity of people. These people are a part of my life, so I want them to have the same chances and happiness that I have. I do not want them to be living on the street because they cannot do something as simple as pay the rent because having food is more important. Volunteering is more than just a mindless act, it is a true experience of life.
The Bellingham food bank, builds the community in which I live in, by keeping food on the tables of all people. I am proud to say that I help out this local cause. There are vast amounts of people in my community that just need a little bit of assistance to help them on their feet, and that is what the food bank does. All of my life volunteering has been a way to prove something, until now. Now volunteering is a way to give back to my community, and also connect with members of my community that I would not have otherwise known.