Similarities

For the past few weeks, I have been volunteering for two hours each Wednesday at the Volunteers of America Food Bank in Everett. So far I have spent 13 hours there pulling carts, telling customers what to do, preparing bags and boxes for convenient shopping, and standing at the produce counter. During those hours, I have realized that most of the people who volunteer to help the food bank are rather poor too, instead of average "middle class" people.

When I first went to my service site, I expected the volunteers to be more like me, but most of them are not. One of the men working there has only been in America for eight months, and another girl has to get food stamps for her and her daughter. However, I think their willingness to spend hours at the food bank comes from their sympathy for the people who need food. All of the peole I worked with were nice, and ready to help whereever needed.

After being at the food bank for a while, I realized that at other community services I had done, I was in my comfort zone. Most of the time I was surrounded by my friends and we were all helping in the warehouse when the people who benefit from our work were not around, so I was surprised when I made the discovery that on the lower levels of a working food bank, many of the helpers need help as well. This is a wake up call for all of us who are privileged. Those who have little are giving more to people poorer than them, but I know people who balk at donating money or gifts once a month to different charities.

This is a call to action for me. I have so much, but I feel like I give so little. Spending time for others instead of just on myself, benefits more than just one person, and that is a quality way to spend time.