My girlfriends and I decided we wanted to volunteer together to support the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. So we picked a date and got registered online. I wanted to bring my kids along so they could see how rewarding it is to help someone else even if you never meet that person. I know they’ve seen me volunteer my time as an emcee for non-profits, but I wanted them to see another way to give back to their community. They’ve not really been with me when I was cleaning up debris, packing meals, serving food, etc. I knew they would have fun, and they met the age requirements, so it all worked out. We selected a Saturday for our group from 9am-12pm.
We walked into the Food Bank got situated and checked in online. By the way, they have this volunteer thing down to an art.
Our coordinator Michael Dixon walked us into a room where an assembly line was set up. Each person in the line had the job of placing a particular item into a bag etc. On the other side of the aisle, we had stockers. These volunteers would watch to make sure the people in the assembly line never ran out of whatever item they were putting into the bags. We also opened up boxes of food and then broke down empty boxes to be recycled. Michael explained how it all worked at the very beginning then asked for volunteers for each particular station, and soon we were off and running. They turned the radio up, and we got to work. The kids were all in, and my girls were too. We had so much fun laughing and working together with the other volunteers the time flew by.
“I want to come back with my friends. This is really fun!”
Alfre Woodard, Michael Dixon, Janell Woods, Neile Jones & Taheerah Salim
I loved watching both kids because they were truely enjoying themselves. They never asked to stop, or when we would be done. They just savored every moment. My girlfriends were awesome, as always. We did our thing which meant we were laughing and having a blast, but we were also very much aware of the need and why we were doing this in the first place. The other volunteers included members of Boomtown Ultimate. This group of Frisbie players had us rolling the whole time. I have to say I hope they don’t forget the invite they gave us to come to watch them play. When we finished our shift we learned we’d help with 1,952 bags, that’s 1,952 kids that will have food, and we got to be a part of that gift from the food bank — a great way to start a Saturday. I hope you make time to do the same.
More about the Backpack Program.
The bags we filled will be used in the backpack program and go to ‘food insecure’ students. They take it home with them on Friday or after school. A lot of people don’t want to realize how many kids out there don’t have enough to eat or just plain go hungry. This program helps ensure students in preschool through elementary in Tulsa County and other areas have something to eat even on the days they are not at school.
For information about volunteering with The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma contact Teressia Kehr. You can click her name to email her or call 918-936-4512.
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