The Wildwood Food Pantry, by Casey Oldham
When I began working at the
pantry, I had a checklist of chores that I needed to get done in time to open
up the kitchen. I had to be reminded to
get the coffee going, the silverware out, the plates and bowls out and
basically just get it ready to go. Then the adults took over cooking the
night's meal, and I waited for them to tell me what to do.
My community service project is more than a project to me. It has more of a meaning than just service hours. Where I volunteer, is more than just a place, it's my second home. My second home is known to other people as the Wildwood Food Pantry. The food pantry is in Green Mountain Falls, my home town. I started out working at the pantry as an obligation; it was just to get in my service hours. It used to be my mom reminding me that we should go to the pantry, but now, it is way more to than that to me. I am the food pantry.
Now, I still have to do all the same chores as before, but it's different. My attitude has changed and I choose to go to the food pantry every Tuesday night. I am gladly the first person there to open up the pantry. I have a set of keys for the church and I make sure I get there first so that I can get it ready for all the other volunteers. I no longer have to go by a checklist, and I no longer have to be reminded to do what needs to be done. Adults now count on me to open the pantry and get it set for them to cook. In fact, I even do some of the cooking. We all work together as a team. I am no longer just the kid working for the adults.
On Sundays at church, I am the one who always makes the Pantry announcements at the beginning of the service. I ask for more food for the shelves, and more people to think about helping out their neighbors. I am now also responsible for scheduling volunteers for the pantry. I always have to make sure that someone is bringing food for the dinner at the pantry, just to make sure that we'll always have plenty of food to feed whoever needs it. By working with Miss Mary and Miss Barbara, our two main cooks, we have never missed planning and serving a complete meal to all pantry patrons. I also eat my Tuesday night dinner at the pantry, and it has really become an occasion I look forward to - good food, good company, and good people. This is a lot of responsibility for me, but it doesn't feel like it.
When the pantry started out, it was just something to give people in need food and send them on their way. Now, it is a place where people can socialize and talk to other people. Now, the pantry even serves a good dinner during the time that it is open. The pantry helps to solve many problems, such as elderly people who have to decide whether to buy medications that they need or to buy food that they need. I am glad to say that the food pantry helps them be able to make that decision easier. Just seeing the many people that the food pantry helps in this way, is totally epic! And you know what? I'm a part of that.
When I started this project, I planned on spending two hours a week on Tuesday nights for a couple of months. Technically, I only spend an hour and a half every Tuesday working at the pantry, but I really am working the pantry all the time. I talk about it, I encourage people to volunteer, I recruit my friends to come help me, and I work it into my life. It's always there in my mind. If I count up the total hours I've spent working at the pantry from the beginning, well, I can't count that far.
The Wildwood Food Pantry, a Community Service Project? I’d say it’s much more than that.
