May, 2024
When we moved to Florida early on we decided we needed a purpose in life inorder to keep us from simply sitting and rotting in place.
Well, after several phone calls and conversations with various individuals we decided to volunteer at the Food Pantry sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Auburndale.
We discovered early on that the Food Pantry has existed in one form or another for over twenty years. It is an all volunteer organization. Without a willing core of volunteer’s things would quickly come to a halt. Also, over the years one thing remains constant, it’s commitment to assisting those in need in the Auburndale area of Florida.
So what do we do, and how do we do it?
There is an area where food staples are kept. Yes, unfortunately the pallets are a bit bare right now. However, we’ve never run out and always seem to receive what we need just when we need it.
There is a room for baked goods. As of now, meaning Monday when this picture was taken, the room is fairly full. But by Thursday afternoon the shelves will be bare again and we will need to restock. More on that later.
We also have a room where frozen meat is kept. Unfortunately, these days we seldom receive much in the way of meat. If we can fill one or two freezers we feel very fortunate. Once upon a time we used to have so much meat donated we had a hard time finding a place to keep it all. But no more.
This is where we store and distribute our produce from. Again, today being Monday the tables are full. But again by Thursday afternoon the tables will be bare again and we will need to restock. More on that later.
Now, lets put the pieces together. Remember the staples room in the beginning?
The staples from that room are taken to the bagging room. That’s one of my tasks, seeing to it that the staples get to the bagging room. Here is Barbara and Sheila at work in that room doing what they do best. What happens is this: they take and put staple items in a plastic bag, the bags are then put in a cardboard box – five bags to a box. What goes in the bag is decided by what we have on hand. Sometimes rice, maybe corn or a package of chili, and whatever else we may have received from the USDA.
When we have ten boxes full of 5 items to a box another of my task’s is to take them out to the main distribution room.
In the main distribution room we have a total of five shelves, each of which holds ten boxes, for a total when all full of 250 bags of staples.
About the produce and bakery.
Every Monday morning, early in the morning, a small army of volunteers with pickup trucks and trailers heads over to Sams Club from which we receive pallets of produce and baked goods. They then unpack the pallets into their vehicles and return to the Pantry and then proceed to unload and bring everything into the appropriate rooms. Then we have another group of volunteers who proceed to sort through everything received and group like items together.
Okay, it’s Monday and the shelves are full of staples. We have produce and bakery. Maybe some meat.
Our first distribution day is Tuesday from 2 to 5 pm. During this time period we will typically help out between 180 to 220 families. By the time we finish that day all of the produce will be gone, as well as most if not all of the bakery and most of the bags of staples.
However, we still have one more distribution day, that is Thursday. Unfortunately, there will be no more produce to give out, there may be some bakery items, may be some meat. As for the staples, Barb and I go back in on Wednesday and fill new bags and boxes. Isaac and Sheila are often there as well to help us out. We always try to keep at least 250 bags ready to go.
And so it goes, week after week. We all come together, volunteers one and all, to do what needs to be done to assist those in need.
"On The Road of Retirement" 