Spratt St.: to your left, Salvation Army, a little further down, Crisis Assistance Ministry, and straight ahead, Second Harvest Food bank. One of the busiest areas I have tried to find parking at in a long time. And that's saying a lot us being in Charlotte. We walk into a tiny room with way too many volunteers in a small space. It was awesome to see so many people there to spend their Wednesday morning and afternoon helping people help other people. Finally, we all went outside where there was more room and we were broken a part into our groups and assigned a place to go. QU SIS was instructed to sort food, drinks, health care products, toys, makeup/skin care products, paper towels, etc. into their designated bin. We were led through 2 sets of swinging grocery store looking doors and into a HUGE warehouse. Everywhere I looked I saw all types of food packages, candy, water bottles, Gatorade, so many necessities to live. We were introduced to Mr. B, who was way too hyper for it being only 9:30 in the morning. But he got us going! Right after introducing ourselves Mr. B got right to telling us about Second Harvest Food Bank and their mission. Second Harvest is a regional distribution warehouse that has ties with charities that help people in need. They supply food and other grocery needs that people need to just survive. Without the help of volunteers there would be no way that the goods donated from Walmart, other grocery stores, restaurants, and individuals who just have extra things to give away, the warehouse would be a complete mess. Second Harvest receives boxes upon boxes of various items some not usable, some in bad condition, and some that just need to be taped up a little. That's where the volunteers come into play, we sort, tape, mark, wipe off, and keep or throw away whatever comes onto our palet.
I enjoyed Second Harvest because no, you don't necessarily get to see the people you're helping or how much you are helping others but while sorting and determining whether or not to keep an item or throw out a half empty, sticky juice bottle due to a leak, you have to sit back and think, "would I buy this item for my child if I were shopping at a grocery store?" So you put yourself in someone else's shoes. I also enjoyed seeing how much we ended up sorting at the end of the day. We had piles upon piles of empty crates on the first day and the second day at Second Harvest we had so many broken down boxes it took ten people several trips to throw them all out. I most definitely will be volunteering at Second Harvest again in the future!
I enjoyed Second Harvest because no, you don't necessarily get to see the people you're helping or how much you are helping others but while sorting and determining whether or not to keep an item or throw out a half empty, sticky juice bottle due to a leak, you have to sit back and think, "would I buy this item for my child if I were shopping at a grocery store?" So you put yourself in someone else's shoes. I also enjoyed seeing how much we ended up sorting at the end of the day. We had piles upon piles of empty crates on the first day and the second day at Second Harvest we had so many broken down boxes it took ten people several trips to throw them all out. I most definitely will be volunteering at Second Harvest again in the future!