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Giving Back

Last week an elderly lady and her caretaker came in to #SoWhatElse to pick up their food. The elderly lady is 85 years old. She was having a very hard time scheduling her next appointment. We helped her with that. I'm not sure why, but we started talking about knitting and crocheting. The lady does both. I only knit. We talked about what we make and then she asked if we accept donations. I said gladly. She thanked me for her food and left. A while later, she returned with crocheted baby clothes and a little knitted teddy bear. She said she appreciates So What Else and the help she gets and wants to give back. It just so happened a young mother with her month old baby was standing next to us. I took the items from the older lady and handed them to the mom with the new baby. She was thrilled to receive hand made items right from the person who made them. It was a beautiful exchange! It brought tears to my eyes seeing the baby benefit from the older lady. People find so many ways to p...
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Give and Ye Shall Receive

One of my goals when I volunteer at the food pantry, #SoWhatElse, is to make people laugh. It is not always a happy place. People come because they don't have enough money to buy groceries to feed their families. It isn't hard.to make people smile. We always give them big smiles and they almost always smile right back at us. Laughter is a little more difficult. I find that I have to be creative and I have to lose some filters. I love when the tables are turned and people make me laugh, especially when it's a baby. Last Tuesday a lady came in holding her baby. I doubt that he was even 2 years old. He was adorable. He had long curly hair and an impish grin. I love kids and I usually find toys or food to give them. I found something to give this baby and he smiled and winked at me. I wanted to know if it that wink was deliberate, so I gave him a book and he winked at me again. I burst out laughing. Every time I interacted with him, I got a wink. Everyone around that baby was l...
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The Languages We Speak at #SoWhatElse

Last week, a lady came in to pick up her food at #SoWhatElse (SWE). She has been there before and I remembered that she is deaf. When I communicated with her in Sign Language, she was so happy. Her whole demeanor changed. I could see tension leave her body. We had a nice conversation while I checked her in and got her shopping cart. After she left, I was thinking about other instances of people who have come in whose first language was not English or Spanish. When someone steps up and speaks to them in their language, it's awesome to see them relax while they get their food. Then I decided to do a little research to see what languages the volunteers and staff at SWE speak. I sure was surprised with the results. Here are those languages: English, Spanish,  Burmese, Cantonese, Dari, French, Persian, Chinese, Russian, Ebonics, Gullah, Hindi, Swahili, American Sign Language, and a little Hebrew. That's an impressive list, isn't it! When someone comes in and speaks a language th...
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yet another example

#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...
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It's Not Easy

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...
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Advantages of Volunteering

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...
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Speaking of the Furlough

#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...
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