It used to be we’d be at the Cambridge Food Pantry unloading and shelving the boxes that came from the Food Bank for at least two hours. Sometimes we’d have a hard time finding room on the shelves.
Lately we get done a lot quicker, there just isn’t as much food coming in.
Marilyn, Janet, Barb and I all broke out in a sweat today. Not only was it humid but many of the boxes that did come in were big and heavy.
The big rush happens when the truck is being unloaded and we’re trying to get the frozen meat and and produce in as quickly as possible.
We’re maneuvering three shopping carts, two U-boats (long low cart with rails on either end) and dollies in the narrow aisles between shelves. Everyone works together, squeezing the carts into the smallest spaces, backing up to let someone through or taking a detour through the small kitchen or even smaller office, which ever is quickest.
It’s like those little plastic puzzles where you move the squares around trying to make a picture or match up the colors.
Once the truck is unloaded, things slow down a little.
Today we were all missing Terry who stocks the shelves in the “store” and always seems to know what is needed and what can be put on the storage shelves.
I couldn’t help but notice how empty the storage shelves were when I got there. There was no cereal and the condiment shelf was just about bare. After stocking the shelves in the “store”, there was little left in stock on the baking shelves, and many of the other shelves were just as empty as when I got there.
I was able to fill the “store” shelf with Spaghetti and Meatballs thanks to The Army of Good.
Things may not be the way they used to be when I first started volunteering at the Cambridge Food Pantry, but we all keep at it, doing the best we can with what we have to make the shelves look full when people come to get their food three times a week.
I can see how important it is for the pantry to look plentiful and clean. I wouldn’t have thought it , but Sarah understood it right away.
If the shelves are empty, it can be discouraging to the people coming for food. Being able to visit a well stocked, friendly and cheerful food pantry can be a bit of a bright spot.
It shows people care.
And we do. I can see it in the people I work with every week as well as how it makes me feel. I don’t spend as much time there as a lot of the people who volunteer, but I do what I can when I can and every time I do, I forget my own problems for a while or at least get some perspective on them.
And I always come home with a good feeling inside me.
Today Jon is asking the Army of Good to help stock the Women’s Shelf with tampons and pads. If you’d like, you can help out here.
