I chose this event only a few hours before it happened.
I wasn’t planning anything even a day in advance, as I never knew when I’d be back to work.
I was in limbo with my job that week. We were on this weird little mini-strike where no one was going back to work until we got our back pay.
Random side note: I call it a mini-strike because we didn’t rise up as workers saying we demand better. Our EP made the call since we weren’t getting paid. He told us to stop coming to work.
Also, no demands were made for any better conditions. People were really just fighting for already agreed upon things (employees’ salaries).
When we were working, the show was taking practically every moment of my day and every ounce of my energy – as it was the first time I was getting any sort of producer credit on something(!), and I was producing my heart out on those episodes.
So, when we weren’t working, I tried to seize the days (worked out a lot, went actual striking, just generally living it up). I knew if we went back it’d be as intense as it was before, only possibly more so (if possible) because of the time we lost.
So, when I saw this opportunity on volunteer match, I jumped on it. My amazing friend Chloe, who was in the same work limbo with me, went with me! (I really loved having her here, as her adventurous energy was very inspiring and wonderful.)
This event was pretty simple.
We walked around to booths of at a farmers market, dropping off boxes (marking down how many we dropped off). Then, as the market was winding down, we took the boxes back (checking them back in on the same sheet where we checked them out).
All the boxes got labeled with the name of the vendor so that after they were weighed, vendors would get receipts of what they’d given.
After we gathered all the boxes, we brought them back to a central area, where they were weighed, labeled, and accounted for on paper. (That way, there was a central document so people could know what was going where, and who had given what).
The boxes were sorted into three stacks, because three different food pantries would be coming to pick up the boxes. Each stack got a variety of food (e.g. if there were 3 boxes of lettuce, one would be put in each stack.)
The pantries were very prompt in getting their food. Trucks drove in as the market was being taken down. Very kind and thankful drivers helped load the food onto their trucks, then went away. One food panty was just immediately down the street, so they were able to bring a cart up and grab food.
The day was easy, as there were many volunteers. Each part of the process took hardly any time, with so many hands helping.
I didn’t realize before that day that there was an organization to help take food that might otherwise be thrown out at a farmers market. And how lovely it is that one exists!
Less waste. More food for people in need. Tax benefits for farmers (I’d assume). It sounds to me like everybody wins!