Feed More Than Hunger

What it's like to volunteer

This is what volunteer Debbie Freeman had to say about her experience in volunteering with Feed More Than Hunger:

"Some days I can feel very disconnected from the poor in our city and lack compassion toward their plight. I can pity or even resent an individual holding a sign on the corner hoping for a handout. Other days, my brief conversation over a lowered car window and my sharing of a BLUE (Blessings Unto Everyone) bag are genuinely heartfelt, and my prayer as I drive away is completely sincere.

What makes the difference? For me, it is the condition of my heart and my willingness to connect.

Last Thursday morning, I ventured downtown to the basement of Travis Ave Methodist Church. I had replied to an email requesting volunteers. The kitchen crew consisted of a retired physician, his wife (a retired U.S. veteran nurse), a young man fulfilling court-appointed community service, the recently-hired chef (previously a professional writer), and another individual employed by Corazon Ministries.

The six of us happily chopped and stirred, scraped and washed, and scooped and tossed as together we prepared one hundred plates of delicious food for transport to an outdoor distribution site a few blocks away. After taste-testing 'the best punch ever made,' the younger, stronger folks loaded the huge coolers full of boxed meals. The van was loaded with the Igloo of punch, an overflowing box of apples and oranges, utensils and napkins, and several cases of water.

We bagged the boxed lunch, fruit, water, and Corazon Ministries flyer and handed each person a cup of truly delicious punch. Conversations were brief (through masks, of course), but it was evident that the regulars (the retired couple) knew many of the guests from the health clinic which they staff twice a week. The city employees were at another table administering temperature checks, managing the socially-distanced line, and distributing hygiene supplies.

I was able to sign up several folks who wanted to return later in the afternoon to shower, another service offered through Corazon Ministries at the church building. I heard their names, told them how they could keep up with the time by the clock atop the Jefferson Bank building, and agreed it was indeed a cold day to think about being wet. Most of them had on layers and didn’t seem cold, but I wondered what it would feel like when the sun set later that day.

As I left, I knew I wanted to come back. Not so that I could box check 'feed the poor,' but because we all needed the connections that happened that day. The kitchen crew, the city workers, the young man on probation, the homeless or underemployed of our city, and me. I was made to connect to others —- not just people who look like me or dress like me or think like me. As always, God knows what we need. He knew I needed to say yes to the invitation to connect with Corazon Ministries. I needed to check my heart and not a box. Maybe you do, too? Just ask him where you need to connect."