Photo by Ryan Louise
I am no stranger to community service and volunteer work. I was raised in a home where we made peanut butter sandwiches in our church’s soup kitchen on Sundays to feed the homeless. I can remember serving mashed potatoes at the Salvation Army one Thanksgiving almost twenty years ago where someone wanted me to give them more than their allotted scoop and, not knowing what to do, I began to cry. As I got older, it felt natural to give out meal leftovers from the abundance of a restaurant date night. I never concerned myself with the why but just chalked it up to it being a necessary thing: people should want to help other people in whatever way possible. This was the feeling I enrobed myself in when I contributed fifteen hours of my time to the Salt Lake Community Action Program Food Pantry on the northwest side of Salt Lake City.
My first day there was frazzled and unnerving; there were so many people that needed assistance and I worried we wouldn’t have enough food to give out to everyone. I constantly had to tell clients that they “only have five minutes” and I felt terrible that they had waited over an hour to be seen and here we are conveying them through this tiny room that could only comfortably hold four people and two shopping carts, tops. I felt emotionally drained that first day and was weary about returning. I went in for my next shift a little earlier than before; I wanted to see a little more of the background of what goes into supporting the pantry before the waiting room filled up with worried mothers, tired day-laborers and nervous young people who were fighting the embarrassment they felt for having to ask for help. I arrived right when a Utah Food Bank truck pulled up. SLCAP pantry volunteers came out with two tow dollies and smiles on their faces. When I heard we were going to be unloading, sorting and stacking nearly eight thousand pounds of food I felt a little queasy. How would we get this done in only an hour when the pantry opened back up after lunch? I got to work unpacking loads of bread, ready-to-eat meals, frozen pizzas, eggs and fresh produce. It was a lot of really hard, fast work. By the time we were done getting everything set up it was just about time to open.
When a person comes to the SLCAP pantry for assistance they must first sign up on a clipboard that is guarded religiously by the Pantry Coordinator Ms. Alice. Clients must have an ID of some sort (if it is their first visit they must also have a bill or official proof of address). Clients who have been to the pantry before have a special card that lists their name, birthdate and household size. The amount of food they take home is dependent on the size of their household so the pantry is usually inundated with children (as proof). After the initial “intake” is completed, they get a colored mark on their hands to indicate to the pantry volunteers what their need is. When a client comes in to be walked around the pantry they are given a shopping cart and a large cardboard box. They choose their canned food and a volunteer gives them meat depending on their preference. Ready-to-eat meals are next (prepared salads, sandwiches, dips, pastas etc.) and then snacks like chips, crackers and cookies. The next two sections provided cereal and fresh produce; many local home gardeners donate their crops to the pantry and clients are encouraged to take as much produce as they like. Pasta, bread and pastries are next and typically a client is permitted to take a “little extra” as there was an overwhelming abundance at times. My favorite SLCAP experience occurred in the pastry section of the pantry. A woman began to cry because it was her son’s tenth birthday that day and she couldn’t afford a store bought birthday cake. There was an assortment of donuts, sweet rolls and individually sized cheesecakes but there wasn’t a full size cake in plain view. I reached up to the higher shelf and brought down a huge sheet cake that had soccer balls all over it and fancily scripted in frosting said “Happy Birthday.” She just about fell on the floor when she saw it; it was very gratifying that we were able to provide her with such a simple luxury of a birthday cake (something that most of us would take for granted) and she in turn maintained her dignity as a parent. After the client is through “shopping” a volunteer would help them back to their vehicle or transport method to pack up their grocery items.
My volunteer experiences (as an adult) up until this point were limited to greeting festival-goers at Craft Lake City, serving beer at the Utah Arts Festival and assisting with a silent auction at the Hogle Zoo. I suppose I felt that I was making a difference in those volunteer positions but with my work and new found understanding of what it takes to manage, maintain and assist the clients of SLCAP I truly feel I have found the deeper meaning of “making a difference.” It was emotionally and physically taxing work and it is humbling to see and hear the stories of not only the clients but also the volunteers who donate their time because they had turned to the pantry in a time of need. I feel there are many more programs that could be implemented at SLCAP that would not only benefit the clients but also the volunteers. Staging quick cooking demonstrations using pantry staples, offering nutritional counseling and even having a supervised play area put in for children of waiting parents would offer a new, more positive spin on the food pantry experience. Bringing dignity and self-respect and a nutritious meal to an individual going through the hunger-filled motions of food insecurity is a step in the right direction. I plan on continuing my relationship with SLCAP in the future and I encourage everyone to look in to volunteering with local food pantries and cupboards. While you are wondering what you should make for dinner tonight a local Salt Lake family could be wondering if they will even eat anything at all. Donating a few hours of your time each week, month or even year is a step in the right direction to wiping out food insecurity here in Utah and that is something that we can all stomach.
For more information on SLCAP please click the link here
Visit the SLCCFOOD Resource Map for a directory of local pantries and farmers markets.
Fellow SLCCFOOD contributor Hannah Cobbeldick documents her experience as a recipient of food pantry resources in Nervous But Necessary: My Food Pantry Experience.
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