High unemployment rates, rising food prices and a severe drought, are just some of the hurdles many people in the Central Valley have to jump, in order to get enough food for their families.
I decided to attach numbers to faces by experiencing the work done by the Bulldog Pantry. This student run organization provides food to over 175 families every week with the help of 20-30 volunteers.
In less than two hours, the people at the Pantry enlightened me more than any unemployment rate could ever have.
Something that immediately stood out during my visit to the Pantry this past Saturday, was their ability to combine the nourishing powers of food and family to better serve people.
As explained by the staff adviser to the program, Jessica Medina, the Pantry does this to provide hope by becoming not just a source of food, but a “place to come and talk to someone [and] meet someone newâ€Â with whom to share stories. “We pride ourselves on how welcoming we are to our families, we know that they’re going through a hard time [but] we want them to know we’re there to help them out when they need it,â€Â said Jessica.
I noticed this family embrace right away as I was walking up to the Pantry early Saturday morning.
Even though many had been waiting in line since five or six that morning, most of the people seemed very much at ease, patiently waiting for the pantry to open. The majority of people there weren̢۪t sulking or looking at you sideways as I had feared, but were having lively conversations and cracking jokes, while their kids munched on cookies, provided by the volunteers, or played on the grass.
There were also those that walked hesitantly into the Pantry, shyly glancing here and there. But it was as if the more someone seemed lost, the more volunteers made a point to smile and welcome them, so as to let them know here, they would be treated with dignity and respect.
The respect given was even more noticeable when people started complaining of a family that had cut in line just before opening time. After the family told Jessica they would leave to keep the peace, she made sure to tell them they were always welcomed back. Hearing “no you don’tâ€Â from a family member, Jessica quickly replied “oh yes, we do!â€Â
It was moments like these that made the biggest impressions. Many of the volunteers were there for the very first time, yet throughout the distribution of food I heard them worriedly noticing how quickly the bags of food were dwindling, while families were still waiting for food.
Reactions like these show the importance of volunteering, especially for college students who often are comfortably cushioned by the stable finances of their parents.
Being face to face with a person, rather than an unemployment rate teaches us to be compassionate and humane, qualities that do not lie within the margins of any textbook.
Sure, I complain of being broke along with the next college kid, but when I open the fridge at home, I’ve always found food. Saturday made me realize the great security and comfort found in that-—in a full belly.
But more than anything, I understood the volunteers. There is nothing like giving entire families the “hope and help,â€Â Jessica, and the other volunteers, so earnestly promote week after week.