Volunteer and Help Put a Dent in Food Insecurity

A friend of mine, Kelly Daily, posts on Face Book about feeding people in the park (in Oregon) pretty regularly, usually with a request for others to come out and volunteer. I always “like” her posts and have thought about how I’d like to volunteer. Today I finally figured out a way. No, I don’t have airline reservations or plans to head to Oregon, but there is need in our community and in the surrounding area for food and I found a way to volunteer. Journey Church in Fernandina has partnered with Second Harvest to create a food ministry that provides boxes of food for families and the elderly. Today (Tuesday) I got the opportunity to participate in a bunch of different facets of this ministry’s mission. The Journey Food Ministry has it down to a science. I got to bag fresh fruit and veggies, bread, and box a variety of meat items. I put 2 boxes of saltine crackers (a pallet full) in almost 300 boxes as they were being distributed. Milk, baby food (options for folks with littlest ones), and dessert (chosen by each customer) along with dry goods completed each box. Then each box (or cluster of 2 or 3 boxes) was delivered to the parking area sometimes with a hug, a prayer, a smile, or any combination of the aforementioned. As if this wasn't remarkable enough all this was packaged between 7:30 and 10:30 this morning, then the 300 boxes sent out the door between 10:45 and 12:30 and this dedicated group of volunteers does it all over again for a different group (as many as 300) every Thursday too. As I write this all I can say is “Whew!” The operation today was a lot to take in but I know be back volunteering there again and I‘ll sleep really well tonight.