My friend and fellow volunteer P.J. Flood is an avid pantry goer, like myself, at the Shelter Rock Church Food Pantry. Not only do both of us do it to help others, we also do it simply for the joy that we receive at each event. After each time that we go, we are amazed at how kind everybody is that receives food and it never fails to put a smile on our faces. P.J. once told me, “I just love it here. The environment, the people, it’s just awesome. Everybody is so enthusiastic about helping others and that enthusiasm always makes me happy to be here.” Clearly, volunteering at the Shelter Rock Church Food Pantry not only makes others happy, it can make you happy as well.
My brother Jesse Bernstone, although in college, loves to attend Community Solidarity food pantry with me whenever he gets the chance. “It helps to relieve stress,” he tells me. “All of the stress from college and schoolwork just drives me crazy. It feels good to come here to get my mind off of work and onto helping others. I think it releases endorphins. I’m not really sure to be honest but it just feels great to come here and help those in need.” My brother would not strike most as the volunteering type, but whenever he gets the chance to do good for his community, you can always count him in.
A final account from a fellow volunteer is from my friend Gabriel Alcaraz. Gabriel only has been to Community Solidarity with me a few times, but each time that he goes he has a blast. Like my other fellow volunteers, Gabriel finds joy in helping people in need. Gabriel once told me, “We come from a town that rarely sees problems over food insecurity to this great an extent. It just shocks me how we could be so fortunate and have little to no issues getting food back home, meanwhile there are people here who struggle each day just to eat breakfast. Although it is sad to come here and see so much struggle, it does make me feel good at the end of the day to know that I helped to make a change in the world.” Gabriel is a very busy man but I’m sure that if he wasn’t so busy, he’d come back each and every Sunday to help those in need.
Overall, volunteering not only helps others, it can help ourselves as well. It gives us joy to know that we are doing something right in the world and making a change for the better.
no1-hungry 