We start by making about 100 bags of groceries (these are standard including a box of spaghetti, sauce, KD, loaf of bread, chicken strips, hamburger helper but no hamburger, donuts, and crackers....and we make amounts for families of 1-3, 4-6, and 7+...the higher the number of people the more food but it really doesn't increase that much). The people who work there regularly bring us the supplies and we stand there and bag them all into paper bags..
Then we each take a station....Christian and another girl (seen blurry in the background) were in charge of getting us all the USDA (approved government food for the month). April and I would get folders and call out how many items we needed, this is based on family size and what they actually want which is discovered through the interview process. What does the USDA approve? your options are a bag of dried beans, rice, canned corn, canned carrots, canned mixed vegetables, apple juice, canned apricots, a bag of prunes, soy milk, Rice Krispies, cheese (which we ran out of halfway through, this was sad for me...I wanted to go buy more), and blueberries. Now most families, although they are allowed to, don't choose all of these products. I'm always left thinking....what kind of meal are you going to be able to make with all of this? Oh and they are only allowed to come once a month to this food bank, however I've been told that there are others in the area that they are allowed to go to if needed. After the boxes from the called out items are packed, Trevor would then weigh them (everything needs to be recorded), and he would pair them up with the boxes of food that we had packed earlier. They also receive toilet paper and some other supplies depending on what is needed (toothpaste, diapers, etc.). Overall, great system...sometimes we wish things weren't weighed so we could slide extra into the bags...we have thought about it and may have acted on it once or twice...those boys and I are sneaky :)
1 comment:
This reminds me so much of the local Christmas Food Drive for the place I used to work. I always had a lot of fun doing it, even if it was crazy!
Knowing a bit of the food bank system here because of my work experience, there are some of the same limitations. Monthly only visits - however all of the food banks in Moncton communicate so that folks can't get food from every location. Sounds cruel when you think about all of that, except when you see so many people cheat the system, you understand why these rules are enforced. I've seen people sell food for drugs on more than one occasion. It's very unfortunate.
And you know, you're so right. The items given sometimes seem so random, and impossible to make a meal. Another reason why I loved Headstart - we gave hamburger with the hamburger helper :)
Looks like a fun experience to do with others!
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