“After my first volunteer shift, I went back to my car and I cried.”

Tags: Emergency Food, Stories, Volunteers

“I had been donating for years, but I wanted to be closer to the work,” says
volunteer Mel. “I wanted to be hands-on.”

After his first shift greeting people arriving for food assistance, Mel sat in his car and
cried.

“I was stunned,” he says. “I was overcome by the scope of the need. I got there at
6:00am and there were hundreds and hundreds of cars lined up.”

Mel is often the first face that families see when they arrive for help, and he
cherishes that brief moment of human connection.

“People tell me about their kids, about their illnesses, about their worries and fears
as they wait for food,” says Mel. “They tell me how grateful they are.”

“I leave here physically exhausted but so energized. Watching all these people
come together to fill a basic need for each other—there’s nothing like it.”

Thank you, Mel!