A fulfilling day

I had a very fulfilling and interesting experience this past Saturday. Leon and I have, through our church, volunteered to help staff the food pantry in our area. Leon has already been there a couple of Saturdays ago, but alas, I was too busy with shower business and working a ton.

But I had my first shift this past Saturday and enjoyed it very much. For obvious reasons, I don't have any pictures. I don't want to show any disrespect to anyone, whether they need the help of a food pantry or not. Leon had told me about the procedure and what to do, so I pretty much knew what to do when I arrived. It was a slow day, so I only had the opportunity to work with three clients. My job was to help them through the "store" and help them to select the amount of food for which they were qualified.

I would like to anonymously describe the clients. My first client was a single lady. For some reason, I did not expect singles. I truly thought that it would be all families. I guess that lesson learned is that hunger and tough times does not discriminate. Everyone is vulnerable.

My next client was a single mom. She had a 5 year old daughter, but the daughter was not with her. As we shopped our aisles, I noticed that she was bending very tentatively as though she was hurting. She was a young gal, surely not over the age of 30. As I helped her out to her car with her groceries, I mentioned that she looked as though she was hurting and she said that she had hurt her tailbone. I didn't question her anymore, but wonder if that is why she is struggling. As we approached her car (it was actually an SUV or van), she said that I could just put the groceries in the front seat. Her car looked very "lived in" and I couldn't help but wonder if the cliche was true. I was unable to see behind the front seat, but I actually had the impression that she didn't want me to. Oh an interesting little side note about this sweet girl, she actually brought back the grocery bag that was given to her the time before.

My last client was a Hispanic family of 4. Again the parents came without the children. I honestly don't know that they spoke English, because they communicated only with each other or with very simple nods or yes/no answers with me. Now that I think of it however, when I offered them another loaf of bread, she smiled, chose the cinnamon swirl bread and said "They like it". So I now smile when I think of two little boys eating cinnamon swirl bread.

I enjoyed my experience and yet I feel badly for those folks that just don't have the means to feed their families like they want to. All of these people were very grateful for what they received and I was happy to help them out. If you have the opportunity to support a food pantry, I hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity.