Food Bank Stories

#SoWhatElse(SWE) is a food pantry in North Bethesda. I am one of their volunteers. I check people in when they come to pick up their food. Some people are in a hurry and some are slow to leave. Some laugh and some cry. We laugh and cry together. Behind it all are people who need help to feed themselves and their families. Yesterday a lady came in. She was small and soft-spoken. I checked her in and gave her a shopping cart full of food. She stood there with her head down for a bit. Then she looked at me and said, "Now I have food to get me through a week if I just eat a little bit each day." And we cried a bit. It's so painful to see hungry people. They live in our communities. You can't tell someone is in need of food by looking at them. I am grateful that I can afford to buy food. I am grateful to So What Else and every food pantry for providing food for those in need. I am grateful to their employees, partners, sponsors, and volunteers. During the holiday season, o...

It isn't easy being at #SoWhatElse (SWE). The people who come for food are raw. It isn't pleasant for them to have to disclose that they don't have enough money to feed their families. When people come for food for the first time, they are tentative. They often step inside and just stand by the door. They are new to SWE and don't know what to do.  Our job is to go to them and welcome them warmly so they know that we are there to help them. We want them to feel welcomed. We explain that all they have to do is let us verify their appointment and give them a Costco-sized cart filled with food. The cart contains both perishable and non-perishable food. All they have to do after that is take the full cart and bring it back when it's empty. After I give them the cart. I look at them and try to read their emotions. Sometimes I can see if they have  a need to tell their story. So I offer them an ear. I learn a lot from the stories. It is painful to hear them. When they stan...

I have gained a lot by volunteering at #SoWhatElse (SWE) over the past year and a half. Some of those gains were not surprising and some were even expected. Feeling good about helping people was expected. Making new friends was not surprising. Learning Spanish, slowly but steadily, was not expected, but a big plus! I enjoy trying to speak to the Spanish-speaking people with whom I interact. There is a plus I never could have imagined. I was at my cousin's, looking at old family pictures. We came across one with no family information on it in English. There were, however, Russian letters under it. As we sat for a while, I suddenly remembered that one of the volunteers, who is now a friend, speaks Russian. I took a picture of the picture and texted it to my friend and asked if she could read the Russian. She could and she did. It didn't identify the person. It was the name of the photographer. My friend also said the picture was taken before 1918. I was very excited to get that i...

#SoWhatElse has had many furloughed employees coming in for the first time. I would like to share several of their stories. A young lady came in with her little baby. She is furloughed. I walked out to her car with her and we were chatting. She said her furlough isn't terrible because while she isn't working, they aren't paying for child care. She is most upset about her husband's furlough. He is considered essential personnel so he is working - without pay! Later that day, a couple came in. He was furloughed and she had just lost her job. Once again, a story of people who suddenly had no income and were not able to buy food. They were pretty upbeat about it and very grateful to So What Else. Then a lady came in. She had an appointment and I checked her in. She was also a Federal employee. I asked to see her government ID Badge. All she had to show was her RIF (Reduction In Force) letter. She lost her job due to the furlough. Another young lady came in. She is a civilia...

2 Thursdays ago when I arrived at #SoWhatElse (SWE), there was a volunteer checking in people who had appointments. That's what I do, too. I was happy to see her because it's great to have 2 people at the desk. We have about 150 appointments a day. After I got situated, I struck up a conversation with her. Not a big surprise, right!  Our volunteers come from many different situations. I have worked with students who need community service hours. I have worked with people who are serving court-ordered community service. I have worked with people who want to make a difference in our communities. This lady's situation was a first. Her name is Lauren. She is lovely and I enjoyed working with her. Lauren came to SWE because she is a furloughed government employee. She chose to use her free time (as in not being paid) volunteering! She was such an inspiration. She didn't have a pissed off attitude about the furlough, although she certainly wasn't happy about it. She was n...

A big part of what I enjoy at #SoWhatElse (SWE) is making connections. The most obvious connection is between hungry people and food. Our clientele make food appointments on our website. They come in at the scheduled time and we check them in and connect them with a big shopping cart filled with food. That is the obvious connection, but definitely not the only one. My first connection was with SWE CEO, Dave Silbert. I have known Dave's father, Rich, my whole life because his uncle married my aunt. So we share cousins but we're not related. Through the family grapevine I found out about SWE. I talked with Dave and we decided that volunteering there would benefit me and SWE. I've been there for over a year. Once I got comfortable, I began to make connections with other volunteers as well as other employees. We all share a passion for helping get food to the people in need. At my age, it's wonderful to meet and become friends with so many new people! There are also built-i...