Volunteering at FoodBank/Soup Kitchen question

[mojoboi]

Hello, I'm looking to increase my non clinical volunteering hours. Because of the pandemic, there isn't many opportunities, but there is a local food bank near me currently taking volunteers. I have two questions:

1. Can anyone who has volunteered at a food bank/soup kitchen tell me what their experience was like and what they learned from it?

2. Is it important to have contact with the underserved/low-income people who are coming to take the food? The coordinator says they are taking precautions to make sure volunteers have minimal contact with them, so I'm thinking that I might just be packing/prepping food there.

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[frogbait]

I have volunteered extensively at a homeless kitchen. They are very upbeat places to work and the staff is usually very helpful in getting you involved. Right now during Covid, we prepare the food in to-go containers and hand out the meals and they have to go somewhere else to eat it. We still have a slight interaction with the customers and try to make them feel loved and appreciated for the short time we interact. Before Covid, they had comfortable tables and plenty of time to relax and eat. We served them at their seat and re-filled drinks. We had much more interaction before Covid.

 

[LizzyM]

I have volunteered in food bank/food distribution for a number of years. One task is sorting and storing donations. In this time of COVID, packing containers (bags/boxes) to be handed to people is another task and one that doesn't involve seeing those you are helping. In the past 10 months, food banks have been handing out pre-packaged bags of food and you might have some brief interaction with the person receiving the food but it is kept to a minimum. Previously, the best practice in food banks was to let people choose what they wanted/needed so that you didn't give people foods that they would not or could not eat given their health, cooking skills, or religious/cultural practices. So, in the before times, food was displayed and people could choose, with limits, what they wanted in their bag. I found that very enlightened and enlightening. It was interesting to see which foods were most coveted and those that were less desirable and how that varied by culture (I'm in a multi-ethnic neighborhood in an urban area). Understanding food preferences and availability of food is important in understanding the food-related chronic dieases that plague people living in America.