For Call to Action Day my food and politics class and I went
to Saint Anthony’s Padua Dining Room in Menlo Park. This is an amazing
organization that has many food services that helps provide hot meals as well
as bags of bread and groceries to those who are less fortunate. They provide a
judgment free environment where individuals and families of any age or economic
status can come and enjoy a meal with peers in a no questions asked atmosphere.
While the nine paid staff members and the multitude of volunteers at Saint
Anthony’s works very hard to provide a hot and nutritious meal for around 350
people per day, they also provide hundreds of take home bags filled with bread
and other goodies for those who come to eat at the Dining Room. Although I didn’t
experience this first hand I was also told about a series of several hundred
lunches and grocery bags that get delivered from the Dining Room to individuals
in need that are unable to make the trip into Saint Anthony’s each day.
While serving with Saint Anthony’s we prepared vegetables
and other food products, helped prepare take home grocery bags, unpacked crates
of food, served food and drinks, mingled with those attending Saint Anthony’s
for food services and helped with clean up services. Three other people and I mainly
did chopping of fruits and vegetables for various salads and entrees. We ended
up chopping around 100 yellow bell peppers, 100lbs of Brussel Sprouts, 40
honeydew melons, 3 crates full of strawberries, and 3 bags of grapes. This job
was slightly tedious at times but we were able to see the finished product
which made performing the task more rewarding. While we were chopping and
preparing food we were able to mingle with several of the long-term volunteers
there who had some amazing stories of why Saint Anthony’s is meaningful to them
and why they decided to volunteer their time there every week. When we were
done with the prep work we were able to grab some food and sit and mingle with
some of the other volunteers and those who come to the Dining Room for a hot
meal; there were some really interesting people that I met there, some families
and some individuals, which made this experience so rewarding.
What I really enjoyed about this experience was the sense of
accomplishment I felt during and after completing my service project. So many
people suffer from food insecurity in this country, and in our own backyards,
so it was really nice to be able to help provide a hot meal for those in need;
especially since it is very well the only hot meal these people are able to eat
every day. It was also very rewarding to see how many other people selflessly
volunteer their time to consistently provide these food services to the less
fortunate every week. These volunteers worked so hard the entire time we were
there and they worked like they were getting paid for it; it was incredible to
see how fast and hard these volunteers work every day for no other reason but
to help out families and individuals in their community.
Although I had a wonderful time and I wouldn’t complain
about any aspect of my time spent at Saint Anthony’s, there were three things
about the experience that I wish were a little different. First I noticed that
certain volunteers had very particular ways of doing things, so when volunteers
needed direction or correction in a task they tended to explain it in a harsh
and somewhat confrontational way. This made it slightly intimidating for some
of the volunteers to ask follow up questions about a certain task. Secondly I
would have loved to be able to mingle and engage more with the families and
individuals utilizing the services at Saint Anthony’s some of the volunteers
were able to work the whole time with these people while my group was in the
kitchen during the serving of lunch, so we were only able to visit with the few
people who remained in the Dining Room once we were finished with our tasks.
The only reason I felt like this would have been valuable is because when I
think of community engagement projects the main aspect of it, to me at least,
is the engagement with the community; despite the fact that my particular group
were only able to spend about fifteen minutes talking and interacting with those
who came to Saint Anthony’s we were able to hear so incredible stories and meet
some amazing people. The last thing that was actually really upsetting to me
was that a few of the people who came by for the free hot meal openly
complained about the food that was being served. I did not see this personally,
but in our debriefing we were told about a few people who became very upset
because the food didn’t contain enough meat products or various other products
that they would prefer. This was heartbreaking to me because so many people
worked really hard to put together the meal that was provided and if you don’t
have access to food on a regular basis you would assume that people would be
happy just for a free meal. Everything there is made from scratch and with “fresh”
ingredients, and the menus are prepared by a nutritionist to ensure that people
are getting the most nutritional benefit from the meals provided.
Although this experience had a couple things I wish could
have been improved upon, it was an incredible experience. We met so many
amazing people both as volunteers and those utilizing the food programs. This
was a very humbling experience and it really helps put my life and my struggles
into perspective. I was so grateful for the opportunity to volunteer with Saint
Anthony’s and I will most likely return in the future on my own time to
continue to help support them in their mission of providing hot nutritious
meals for their less fortunate neighbors.
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