Food Bank

Last week I volunteered at the Brazos Food Bank before making the trek back to Abilene. It was a really cool experience, and definitely something I want to do again in the future.

My day started at 9:00 A.M. by meeting with the volunteer trainer and the rest of the trainees. We sat around and chatted while waiting for the rest of the people to get there. I was shocked to see about a dozen college-aged kids had shown up to work there during their Christmas break. But soon I realized that this was not of their own volition. Every other person was there to do court-mandated community service. Most of them had alcohol related charges brought against them, from driving under the influence to minor in possession.

Since I was the only guy there out of free will, I was given extra responsibilities. I was charged with accompanying another guy to H.E.B. to pick up day old bread to be brought back to the food bank. After completing this task, I sought out the work manager and told him about the situation. I figured that since I was only there for one day, it made sense for me to get the worst jobs, so the other people didn’t get discouraged. The worst case scenario was that I’d be worn out and a little unhappy at the end of the day, but had completed some important and undesirable tasks.

Turns out, though, that the jobs I was assigned weren’t all that bad. Most of them corresponded to what I used to do when I was a grunt worker at Camp of the Hills. I swept and mopped out walk-in refrigerators, hallways, and bathrooms. I beat the dust of years out of some rugs. I even helped pack food into boxes and onto pallets to be shipped off to those who needed it.

I feel like the most important thing I did that day was through my attitude. I was positive and friendly to everyone there, from the staff I was working for to the convicts working for the community while waiting for parole, to the “volunteers” the court had sent. I looked for ways to help those around me and took initiative when I could. When I ran out of stuff to do, I found my supervisor and asked what else he needed.

I didn’t just wake up one day and think, “I should go volunteer at the food bank today…” A close family friend ours had a brother named Jack Borden who loved the work that was done there and believed in it very strongly. He passed away a little more than a year ago. Their whole family has meant so much to our family over the years. Jack’s brother Robert has always been especially supportive of me and my ministry, from Camp of the Hills to Thailand. Our family was reminded about how special they have been to us, and we decided that it would be a cool thing to spend some time volunteering at a place Jack held dear as a tribute to him and his family.

I felt great as I left that day, not only because I like the feeling of tired muscles after a hard day’s work, but because I felt like I had given a little back to a family who had given us so much.