A Day of Service and Team Building

On Saturday January 7th I worked alongside a large group of dedicated volunteers including some from Team Red Cross, at the Boston Food Pantry. I drove in from suburban Boston to the food pantry on Mass. Ave. The weather that morning was beautiful, and in addition to it being just after the holidays, there was an expectation that we would distribute emergency food supplies to a very large number of families in need. It turned out to be true - 631 families visited that day!

I arrived at 8:30 a.m. and worked continuously at a very fast pace through 12:00! I worked behind the scenes outside in the warmth of the sun (thank goodness!), first sorting through some produce to ensure we only distributed fresh, quality food items. Others on the volunteer team greeted patrons and distributed a variety of meats, produce and non perishables. There were some families lining up outside and it felt a little awkward to be tossing out some of the unfit produce into dumpsters while they observed our efforts. It also struck me that I was making a personal judgment about the quality of food on behalf of another family I had never met, driving home to me the seriousness of the need and a desire to to the best job I could on their behalf.

Following this I worked alongside a group of Red Cross teammates and some other volunteers including some from Boston Cares - to prepare bags of non perishables. We worked very hard, but enjoyed great conversation and teamwork along the way to prepare hundreds of bags. A few of us were hustling back and forth from the palettes, keeping the "assembly line" table full of the necessary supplies, where the rest of the group assembled all of the items into shopping bags.

Occasionally I brought supplies to the front area where families were entering the building. Seeing children waiting in line, a very unfortunate reality, reminded me of my previous service experience in high school at a local soup kitchen. There, we prepared and served hot meals to families. One of my most vivid memories from that experience is that I got to help some of the kids with their homework -  that has really stuck with me over the years.

Now as you know I am very excited about my upcoming first marathon. It is so exciting to me that I will be able to run in my "home town" of sorts in Boston (I grew up in NH). There are so many landmarks I am thinking about passing as I run the race next April - most notably Heartbreak Hill and especially Fenway Park, home to my beloved Boston Red Sox! But as I take those thousands of steps from Hopkinton to Boylston Street I'm also going to be thinking about another part of Boston that while not located on the course and not as widely recognized, is just as deserving of consideration and personal inspiration!

This was really a rewarding experience for me and reinforces why it is so important to support this worthy organization. If you agree and would like to help, please make a donation at this link.

Team coach Dan Fitzgerald, Isaac Burrows, captain Karen Teller, Yours Truly, and Paul Garcia