October 20th

This Wednesday was just awkward. There was almost no food; we ran out of tuna helper and jelly. That almost never happens. I think they were expecting a new shipment of food soon and that's why it was so low. On the other hand, we had more than enough fruits and veges. That's one thing I love about the Food Bank, people with gardens always donate the food they can't eat so we get organic fresh produce daily. A regular person would have to go to the market and pay top price for something we can give people to free.
I know in America so many people have to choose between expensive fruits and vegetables when they can get chips and soda for so much cheaper. It's leading to the obesity problem we have. Lower incomes typically don't have good nutrition due to those extra expenses. The Food Bank is changing that just by personal donations. I love to see the kindness in this town.
The decrease of food has me even more worried about the Thanksgiving baskets. It's about a month till then and we're nowhere near ready. I think, however, they might be moving the baskets from the Meridian Food Bank to the Idaho Food Bank. If that's true, then I'll feel better, but it’s just a rumor.
I enjoy the people I work with and I'm looking forward to next week.

October 13th

I looked at my service log sheet and I have 12 hours so far. That's only 3 hours left and this is only my fourth blog. I'm planning on volunteering even after I've completed my hours so I'm not worried.
We're starting to acquire more and more things for Holiday Baskets. It's mid-way through October and I don't know if we're going to get there. I looked and we only have about 10 cans of gravy, broth and cranberry sauce. If we're seriously going to hand these baskets out, we're going to need a lot more of everything very soon. I hope we have enough in time, or some people are going to go without a Thanksgiving meal. That really breaks my heart, and that's why I like helping there. Food is so basic and yet can be so emotional at the same time. We're not just giving these people food, we're giving them a reason to be happy and celebrate with food. Sometimes the answer is just that simple. I'm bringing in a turkey next week so hopefully that will help.
Towards the end of the shift a girl scout troop donated almost $200 to the food bank. It was a really sweet gesture. I miss those cookie-selling days...
Can't wait till next week.

October 6th

The first of the month is supposed to be one of our busiest days. However, it was one of the slowest volunteer days I've had. I talk to another volunteer, Amy, and she believes that most people get their food stamps on the first of the month so they don't need the food bank. It’s the end of the month when the stamps run out that people need assistance the most. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed it because I got to chat with my fellow volunteers and learn more about them.

We had a ton of donations. People came in about every half hour and donated vegetables, canned and dry food and dog food. We even got some toothpaste. I found this interesting because I thought that the food bank only accepted nonperishable items, but in reality they accept almost anything. The next time I have a lot of those plastic grocery bags, I'm going to donate them to the food bank. They accept those too.