Over 22,000 pounds of apples were sorted and boxed at the Second Harvest Food Bank as part of preparations for the upcoming holiday season on Nov. 14.
Apples, along with other many foods, will be given away to families in need all over Bay Area.
“We want ensure that [people] have access to food,” said Sam Re, a volunteer. “The holiday season is especially busy because we are trying to make sure that everyone has a nice meal during the holidays”
The Second Harvest Food Bank in San Carlos and other similar organization focus on packaging the food that was donated by stores or members of the community. The amount of food that was donated requires quite a few volunteers to help out with the sorting so that it could be done on time.
“We take food from the stores that would not be sold and redistribute it to the families,” said Virginia Feng, a team leader. “We have enormous amounts of food so the volunteers help out a lot.”
While helping out with a good cause, the volunteers have an opportunity to become more engaged in their community.
“I have been a volunteer since high school,” Feng said. “I think that volunteering is one of the best ways to positively contribute to my community.”
In addition, the volunteers have an opportunity to learn about the struggles that some of the Bay Area families have to deal with on daily basis.
“I am part of the Girl Scouts and I figured out that [Second Harvest Food Bank event] would be a good opportunity to learn more about hunger since that’s what we’re focusing on right now,” said Sarah Drayer, a volunteer. “I really did not know that so many people in Bay Area did not have access to something as basic as food.”
Volunteering for these organizations helps to raise awareness about the existing problems in the local area and contributes to the personal development of each individual that decided to spend some of their time to improve their community.
“I think that it is really easy to get caught up in our everyday lives and materialistic things,” Feng said. “We all need to take some time off and spend it on our communities so that we can help those that need it the most.”
The Second Harvest Food Bank and other organizations alike rely on volunteer support to cover the enormous amounts of work that is done to contribute to the surrounding community.
“Volunteers are life and blood of the Second Harvest Food Bank,” Re said. “Without volunteers, the food would just stay in the warehouse and never get to the families.”
