Food Bank Stories

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...