Types of Volunteers

Today I’d like to talk about volunteers in the food bank. There are a few different kinds of people that volunteer in my food bank. There’s the little old ladies that want to contribute, the horny old men that like the teenaged girls, the teenaged girls that feel like they’re doing their civic duty, the people who are getting their probation knocked down by doing community service, the people that want to feel less guilty about using the food bank, the people that want free food, and of course the churchies that feel like God is telling them to feed the poor.

Yes, it’s a long list, but bear with me.

- Little old Ladies: They’re sweet, but are slow. I really appreciate what they are doing, but at the end of the day, they can’t hear as well, they’re quiet and slow. Not up for conversation, just like to do their job and leave. But sweet nonetheless.

- Horny old Men: Some men just need more attention than they’re getting at home. They like to sit and watch while the girls do the work.

- Teenaged girls: They’re usually sweet. But every once and a while, you get a bad egg. They get their work done, like to chat, and are generally very personable.

- The Probies (or court ordered community service): I have never seen any volunteer work as hard as some do. They genuinely want to work off their debt to society. But, and it’s a huge but, there are some that will work as slow as they can in order to not do as much work in the same amount of hours. I try and as the reason why they’re here. I’ve never heard so many stories about the police in my little town.

- The Guilters: The people that are participants in the food bank and want to feel less guilty about getting food so they want to serve too. The issue with these people is that they aren’t the most reliable people. Some are, most arent’. And they tend to be the same people in the following category as well.

- The Food Takers: These are the people that work here so they get first dibs on the food donations that come in. Pretty much, as long as they ask, it’s totally fine. If you want to work here for 3-4 hours a day for a loaf of bread and some rice, sure. It’s the people that want to take home an entire box of the best food they can find every day that I have issue with. I understand the economy isn’t the best (Hello! I’m an unpaid intern!), but we have policies against getting more than 2 uses (4 big boxes of food) of the food bank per month. It’s abuse of the system.

- The Churchies: These are the folks that work at the food bank because the good Lord told them in prayer to feed the hungry. I could go on a very long tangent about this, but I’ll just stick to work ethic. These people are generally great. Work hard, are caring about others, want to chitchat. BUT, they want to evangelize while they’re here as well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a freedom we have. But I mind when I have work to do and I can’t do it because you’re talking to me, I get upset.

Now, keep in mind this is extremely stereotypical. I know that. Yes, I am thinking about specific people in my area, so I know they do exist at least in one bank. Also, these may also double dip and be more than one thing. Yeah, think about that.

Long story short, there are many different reasons why someone would work at a food bank. If you ever want to prove me wrong, please volunteer and prove me wrong. And please don’t let this deter you from volunteering. It’s a great experience to see all walks of life in. I’ll be posting more blogs about the different ways to contribute to the food bank later.