standing for 8 hours

This is my first full week working at Metro CareRing (MCR). Metro CareRing is a hunger relief organization that operates one of the largest food pantries in Denver. Last year, Metro CareRing provided 131,698 hunger relief and self-sufficiency services to low-income and homeless individuals, offering food, nutrition and healthy living education, utility and transportation assistance, employment readiness programs, and identification documents (from Metrocarering.org). First 2 weeks Meg (Since we have the same name) and I went through orientation along with another full time volunteer named Taylor. We learned how to do everything from intake at the front desk, Client Care Providing, and pantry staffing. This is far different than what I did last year working it a business professional office. Instead of wearing nice clothes to work I get to wear Jeans and a t-shirt that I don’t mind if it gets dirty. After the two weeks of orientation we got to choose where we think our skills could be best used. I chose the pantry.

I fell in love with working in the pantry. I am the Primary Pantry staff. Ryan my supervisor works in the pantry as well but with me back there he can do more of the daily tasks. In the mornings I restock the shelves and get ready for the food orders which start coming in about 9:45-10:00 after the clients have gone through intake and counseling. When it is backed up or I am done stocking the shelves (for the moment) I fill food orders until October 11, that is when we are switching to the full client choice model (FCC) in FCC the client will be able to shop through the pantry as though it is an actual grocery store. They will have a volunteer with them letting them know how many of each item they are allowed to have. An example of the change will be something like this:

As it is now: I choose what type of canned fruit, vegetable and soup the client wants.

FCC: I will walk along with the client and tell them you can pick two cans veggies, fruit and soup.

I think this is an important step as an organization. This allows the client to have autonomy which helps them maintain their pride even though they may not be in the best of living or financial situations.

We are done filling food orders between 1:30-2:30 depending on how many clients came in that day and how long we have been closed to walk-ins. We can close to walk-ins at anytime during the day depending on the number of volunteers who are helping that day. If there are not a lot of volunteers everything from intake to filling the orders takes longer so we can get backed up relatively quickly. After all the orders have been filled the volunteers that are left and I clean up and restock for the next morning (as much as possible so I don’t have to do it at 8 am the next morning)

On a typical day we will fill 100 client orders with house sizes ranging from 1 person to 15 people (children and adults). The volume of Clients is what makes MCR one of the largest food pantries in the Denver area.

I never imagined that I would enjoy lifting boxes, restocking bags of rice and beans (which are not always sealed so it spills all over the place.) filling food orders for complete strangers and cleaning as much as this. I have truly fallen in love with working here. Who cares that I am on my feet for 8+hours or that I’m covered with random crud by the end of the day. This job is rewarding in many ways that I cannot fully put into words.

 I am grateful for this placement