Long Day At The Food Bank

I had a board meeting at the food bank today. I have been on the board or volunteering there for coming up on 20 years. 

Our food bank is going through some changes and the board has quite a few new members as we are trying to increase the members of the board and get people with different abilities on the board. We are so grateful that they are willing to serve.

We have new members that have connections with grant writing, some with policies and organization business, some in newspapers and advertising, another with the city, another is one of the most wealthy in our community so he knows almost everyone through his business, one has experience in fund raising, another well known business person, and some from interfaith councils. 

We have never had a board with such diverse people in it, or as many people on the board. I am really excited to have a strong board for the first time in those 20 years. When I first got involved, we had a good board and then we lost the director with family issues, we moved into a new building, and things started going downhill with the economy / grant issues. 

Recently, grants are up now again with COVID and we finally have more in the accounts. Things are starting to move. There is a big food drive coming up and the satellite offices we have in the outer smaller towns are all starting to get bigger. We are looking at ways to bring in more donations and inform community members about the programs and who can qualify. 

Things have gotten really cluttered as they have been storing diapers in places other than the warehouse as they get taken regularly as they are a high cost item so they give one package out as needed, but it is getting a bit crazy as they have to lock them in offices and closets so they don't disappear and / or run out. 

I spoke to several workers, and we came up with a plan on how to rearrange some of the storage rooms where we can put shelving to store those items and to stop having so much clutter in the office space. 

I am excited for things to start getting organized and more professional as it has been a bit crazy with lots of volunteer turnover and I look forward to maybe getting stable workers / volunteers in and getting it running as I know it can. 

I am grateful that there are so many people who care about the success of the food bank and who are willing to volunteer and donate. 

One of these good workers took his stimulus check and purchased a tool box and tools that can be locked as the tools keep disappearing. 

We get volunteers that have court ordered service hours, and sometimes things go missing while they are doing service. It is a hazard of the situation as we are one of the only service hour options in the area. He has limited income, and I thought that was so sweet of him to use his "widows mite" to do something for the food bank when so many others take and never pay it forward. 

He is a good example to me. I am headed back in the next few days to help organize those rooms and hopefully, having the offices cleaned and not being used for storage will help the workers feel more at peace while working. 

Have a blessed day!