1.) Where are you with your action? (e.g. what involvement have you had so far? Describe with examples)
If you have read my past blog posts, you would know that I volunteered with the greater Vancouver food bank sorting food. But since my last blog post I have been able to volunteer with The Peoples Pantry Food Recovery Society in port moody. When i got there i was a bit shocked at how small it was, as it was just one room with all the food and tables in it. Similarly to my volunteering at greater Vancouver I was sorting through food. But instead of dry goods and non-perishable items I was mostly sorting through produce. I think that since the people’s pantry is a much smaller operation, they have less access to the same quality of food that the greater Vancouver food bank has. So, while sorting through produce a large portion of it was not the greatest but we still handed it out. That was another difference I found volunteering at these two different places, the quality of the food that they would let be given out was much different , with the peoples pantry they told me that those who sign up to receive food know that the quality is not great and that it is better than them having nothing, which is true but still a bit jarring to hear and seeing the food that these people will be receiving. I guess it shows the extent of food insecurity here in our community, and how there really is not enough resources or funding going to these smaller programs such as the people’s pantry food recovery society meaning they have to resort to giving people produce where the mold has just been picked off, or food that is expired/about to be expired which is quite sad because access fresh healthy food should be a right.
2.) What are some successes that you have had? Provide specific examples.
Since it was my first-time volunteering with The Peoples Pantry Food Recovery Society, I was a bit unsure of what to expect, and I think that doing anything new can be a bit scary, but I found that I got into the groove of how they run things there quite quickly. We were working as a team to go through all the donations they got that day. The shift was supposed to be from 10-2pm but through working hard all together we were able to finish all our sorting by 1 pm.
3.) What are some challenges that you have faced? Have you been able to overcome them? If so, how? Provide specific examples. If not, can you problem-solve some ideas that might work for next time or if a similar situation arises? Again, provide specific examples.
A challenge that I have faced was just sometimes being unsure of what to do since it was my first-time volunteering there, and sometimes it’s hard to ask for help or just questions in general with a completely new group of people who all are quite busy trying to get work done. But luckily the team that i was volunteering with was quite helpful and could recognize when i was a bit unsure. I think that next time since i am more comfortable it will be easier for me to just reach out when i have questions.
4.) What are you doing next and why?
This coming Sunday I will be volunteering again with the People’s Pantry Recovery Society, but I will be doing something different. Instead of sorting through the donations I will be assembling the hampers of food that people/families will be receiving. I am excited because I will be able to try something new and see how much and what each hamper contains/what that looks like. I will be doing this instead of the sorting because they needed more help with putting the hampers together as there are normally not enough people, so i decided to give my help where it is more needed.
