Service Learning site 1st entry

I am currently a volunteer and the city of Snohomish food bank. I work with a large variety of the public. The individuals that come to the food bank vary in class and families. the individuals vary from young mothers, to large families, elderly, many people vary from their twenty to their sixties living on their own. It varies from ethnicities Caucasian, Hispanic, African American to Asian the food bank is open door to anyone in need. By observation socio - economic class varies from single mothers/fathers, self reliance individual status, to those who barley get by due to the loss of a current job in our economic dilemma. Though i have only volunteered a few days i have had the opportunity to meet a few reoccurring faces to the food bank. I have meet this elderly Caucasian woman who lives on her own and can no longer work. she relies on the food bank to help feed herself and keep her healthy. One other Caucasian gentleman i have meet is a single father to two who has just lost his job due to decline of work. He comes in and typical stocks up on macaroni & cheese, spaghetti and top ramen. Filling and child approved meals. The last woman id like is a Hispanic single mother to two very young children 1year old and 4 year old. Her children love coming to the food bank because the food bank volunteers give them lollipops and play peak a boo with them. she stalks up on any potential items that can supply her with many meals and the food bank has special items available to parents with young children such as formula, diapers, baby food and baby wipes. My typical day volunteering at the food bank typically entails me to assist individuals and their families enforcing portion control and helping them sort through the food and offering them many food options. At the food bank all the food and supplies are donated. Food options change from day to day. the food bank always supplies dried pastas, soup, and large variety of bread. due to reliance on donation and the flow of traffic through out the day in the food bank everything given out is rationed dependent upon the members in your family and how many people you are feeding. everyone gets a paper bag full of non perishable items such as pasta, tuna, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, and can fruits and vegetables. Items that are rationed are cereal, soups, packaged meat, yogurt, frozen juices, select produce and items like cake cookies and pies. One thing that is never rationed is bread. The food bank has massive amounts and varieties of breads donated to them and since bread goes bad so quickly there is no limit on how much bread anyone can take. I personally have taken alot from my experiences at the Snohomish food bank. i have observed how many people the food bank reaches out the the public and the differences they make in peoples lives . They help prevent individuals and their families from starving everyday. I volunteered to participate at the Snohomish food bank because my parents had me in their late teens and my sister in their very early twenties they heavily relied on the food bank to feed my sister and i. I am thankful for the food bank because they fed me for many years and i felt it was time to return the favor the provided for me when i was little and growing up. As i continue to participate in the food bank i hope that i can have an impact on individuals and their families like the food bank participants had an impact on me when i was young. to find out more about my service learning site please visit this website http://www.snohomishcommunityfoodbank.org/index.htm