Sometimes, when writing this part of the blog I have to remind myself that actually I don’t do that much in terms of voluntary work at the food bank, somewhere between 2.5 and 3 hours a week. I was reminded of it yesterday, too, when meeting an old friend who does far more many hours than I do and his involves back-breaking heavy lifting, which I can’t do. I’d like to think I do my little bit to make our world a better place.
We were very short on numbers today. There were three people sorting out goods and packing bags in the store cupboard, a meeter and greeter (that’s one person, in case you were wondering) and two people going through the items people need to survive. I was one of those two, as usual.
At first we were very quiet but then it kind of went mad. My job is to make people feel as comfortable as possible and then take their food and non food requests, after which I can prepare a hot or cold drink while they wait.
I started at 12.45 and the first time I looked at my watch to check the time it was two hours later. I literally handed stopped, not even for a glass of water, and there was still time to see a couple of late arrivals before I was able to leave. Then, a couple of us were putting the chairs and tables away before we vacuum the floor. I left before the very last bit.
There were some return callers today, although my memory for faces is as bad as ever. How about this for an exchange? “Have you been to see us before?” “Yes, I saw you a couple of weeks ago.” “Ah,” I replied, none the wiser. That was early on this afternoon, so I couldn’t attribute my failings to fatigue. I just forget.
Towards the end, a caller asked if I might drive them home because they would be unable to manage all the bags themselves. I explained that this was not part of what we did and anyway I imagine if we did it for one person, word would soon get out and we’d have to do it for everyone at our own expense. I don’t mind being a bit out of pocket driving to the food bank and back but I’m not a free delivery service either. The person wasn’t too pleased and it was then when I remembered to keep my cool. After all, they had nothing and had just come to a food bank in order to eat to live. They probably thought it was a reasonable request and maybe it was but I referred the person to the paid folk who oversee all the food banks in our area.
I hope we have a few more volunteers next week. It was just too busy to enjoy today and yes, generally, I do enjoy what I do. But it was just too full-on and I’m a bit weary now, mentally rather than physically.
