Food Shelf

I helped out at the emergency food shelf tonight with my parents. For some reason I never felt like going other times they asked me, but I decided to help out tonight. They had just gotten tons of food in from some food drives that local synagogues did, and it needed sorting and rearranging. I helped stock foods in the store area where families come to pick out food. I had participated in or planned a lot of food drives in high school (that were usually competitions and our class always won!) but I had never seen where it all goes afterward. It was interesting learning about how the food shelf operates. They have a staff of social workers who asses each family's need for food and they can also help them deal with other issues going on in their lives. They have a full time staff and volunteers that donate their time.

Seeing all the food that goes in and out of there really reminds you that there are a lot of families out there that can't afford to put food on the table. I feel very lucky to have never experienced that. It felt good to help out and I will definitely do it again. I will also try to donate items more often. Some much needed items at the food shelf that I was at tonight were:

• personal care items
• cereal
• granola bars
• canned fruit
• snacks for kids
• coffee/tea
• juice
• jelly/jams in different flavors
• diapers

Some places also accept clothing donations and other items like shoes, baby items, etc. Here is a website for locating food shelves and services in MN: http://www.hungersolutions.org/find Donate your time, donate some food, and help out some people who are in a tough place in life!