Trunk full of groceries.
It took me six days of volunteering and driving to new parts of the city on my odyssey, but the Memphis roads finally got the better of me. Despite getting turned around, I entered my destination only a few minutes late. I felt concerned that my tardiness may delay the food drop today, but upon arriving I was relieved to discover we would still need to organize most of the food into bags allotted for families. The Dozier House serves those in need in a variety of ways, and our current mission was to drive to a low-income area and deliver a mix of fresh and packaged food. On my tour of the facility I saw real food everywhere, and this excited me. While there were also plenty of canned fruits and vegetables, the boxes of fresh produce outweighed the prepackaged items.
Stick to the plan.
The process of packing bags was simple and structured, but I was surprised by the amount of time it took. Although I made sure I worked as efficiently as possible, a great deal of time was required to create these packages, as there were no helpful shortcuts. When the task of packing bags was completed we loaded the vehicles with food and clothing. As we drove south to deliver the food I began noticing numerous out of state license plates. Our South Memphis destination was only three miles from the Mississippi border. In the expansive states of Texas and California, that I previously called home, the idea of commuting from another state was impossible, but here in my new home, it is a common practice to cross state lines.
The pantry.
The three men I worked with for the deliveries were of varying ages; all much order then me. Despite my best efforts to do all of the heavy lifting they continued to participate with ease. I hope that after I’ve seen a few more decades come and pass I am both as active in the community, and have the ability to physically participate as these men did. Many of the volunteers had already retired from their respective careers. I can see the potential difficultly of continued engagement with the community once I have a new job and other commitments in my new city. That is why hope to find a career in Memphis that allows me to support the community I live in. This hope is idealistic and I know that I may need to make an extra effort to help enact positive change in my new home. During those times I hope to look to the men and women I met today as community role models.
Took less than a day for them to find this guy a home.
Following the initial rush I was able to chat with my fellow volunteers. The small talk moved from food to up coming trips, but it would inevitably return to what the men could do to continuously help the community. Just this morning one of them had found a puppy near the Dozier House, picked it off the street and found it permanent home. Collectively the group helped homeless families in their parish, aiding them in finding jobs and a place to live. They even tried to determine how they could help me with a job while committing their own day to delivering food. I could not find one thing unlikable about this group.
Unlike some of the other beneficiaries I have had the opportunity to help this week, I don’t have immense pity for the group I helped today. Not because I thought that they deserved to be hungry, but because they had a community that supported them. Carpooling was the standard amongst food recipients. The son of a church volunteer was willing to deliver bags those who were working during the pick up time. I discovered the families of many men and women that picked up food were still in the countries they emigrated from; however, they were not alone, they had this tight-knit community. Being new to Memphis I often feel isolated. The experience this week has provided had expedited my integration and helped dissolve my seclusion. Assimilating into a new community often takes thousands of baby steps, but I’ve taken a giant leap forward.