“You never know, you may be the one bright thing that they see today. So be friendly!”
That advice came from Melinda, a volunteer I met at the Fig Tree Food Pantry. We were stationed in the front of the building, receiving clients and processing referrals from MIFA, Friends for Life, and the Med. It was emotional for me to be able to physically hand over food to each client. I took Melinda’s advice to heart and saw the difference that a smile accompanying the food gifts can make!
Standing up front preparing to hand out food parcels at the Fig Tree Food Pantry (with a smile!)
Melinda’s advice trickled through a day of many firsts for me: my first day of my Volunteer Odyssey, my first blog post of my volunteer week, and hopefully the first of many days helping at this food pantry. I had never visited a food pantry before, let alone offered to volunteer at one. I felt welcome and at ease from the moment I stepped out of my car until the time I left the Food Pantry (a half hour after I originally intended!).
I learned about the food pantry from the dedicated volunteers that showed me the ropes. The Fig Tree Food Panty is only one of the services offered by the Catholic Charities of West Tennessee. They also operate a clothing closet and a veterans’ initiative called St. Sebastian’s. The Food Pantry purchases food items such as canned fruits and veggies, bags of rice and beans, boxes of cereal, various meat, and even cake and cookie mixes from the Mid-South Food Bank, and then these items are put into bags organized by family size. Most boxes were designed for families of four or five.
After my initial stint at the front with Melinda, I moved to the back where I met Gloria and Mary, two other volunteers. From them I learned what goes in each food parcel, and the correct pronunciation of Quinoa. With all of the cans and boxes I hauled, I definitely gained some muscle today!
Packing up a box at the Fig Tree Food Pantry with the help of Ms. Gloria and Ms. Mary – so much fun!
A committed circle of volunteers runs the Food Pantry; and it is astounding what this small group of people makes happen. The partnership the Food Bank and the Food Pantry have is a prime example of the type of community partnerships that I am interested in building and facilitating, and I am inspired by the effectiveness and cooperation of all these disparate organizations that work to successfully aid the hungry citizens of Memphis. Ms. Gloria called the Food Pantry one of the best-kept secrets in Memphis.
She may be right, but I hope the secret gets out soon.