Distributing Food on the Third Thursday

Note: I wrote this piece for the December 7, 2011, issue of The Uniter, the newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign (http://uucuc.org/), which has begun a two-year Hunger Initiative.

On the third Thursday of every month, I look forward to spending the evening volunteering at the Wesley Evening Food Pantry.  I know that at the end of the evening, I will feel tired, I will feel grateful, and I will feel happy. 

I have been volunteering at the pantry since I went there on a service project with Parkland College's chapter of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) in December of 2008.  Ever since then, as long as I am in town, I spend an hour or more at the pantry on the third Thursday.  And that is all it takes for me to leave smiling and to know I made a difference: an hour or two each month.  I go every month because I enjoy it so much; I do know that when I am unwell or swamped, there are other volunteers who keep the pantry going.  I feel no pressure to go, just a desire to be part of it. 

The Wesley Evening Food Pantry was created by Donna Camp five years ago because she saw a need for an evening pantry for those who work during the day.  It takes place on the third Thursday to help folks to make it to the end of the month.  You can find out a lot more about the pantry at http://wesleypantry.org/. 

What I want to tell you here is that volunteering at the pantry is one of the highlights of my month.  Whether I help clients to "shop"--the pantry is set up like a grocery store--or walk around cutting open boxes of food, or hand out numbers to those arriving for the evening, I feel useful.  I feel like I am doing something concrete to make life just a little bit easier for someone else.  I also feel grateful for the opportunity to be kind to others who are having a difficult month.  Problems in this world are enormous, and I sometimes feel helpless when I listen to the news.  At the pantry, the helplessness is replaced by a sense of purpose created by a very specific task, a task that has to be done so that our neighbors have food for the rest of the month. 

I say I leave the pantry smiling.  I leave also feeling humble.  I know how tiring it is to go to the store after a long day at work.  At the pantry, I meet folks who sometimes wait an hour or two for their number to be called so that they can get groceries, and then they might share a ride or take a bus home.  They might spend the entire evening just getting groceries.  They have to have much more stamina than I do. 

Finally, I leave my Thursday evening shift feeling grateful--for the people who created the pantry, for the opportunity to help, and for the meal awaiting me at home.  I am reminded to appreciate the ordinary. 

The Hunger Initiative is going to organize a group volunteering opportunity at the Wesley Evening Food Pantry  on January 19, 2012.  If you would like to join the group of volunteers, look in future Uniters for information about training before that evening.