Friends of the Community

Amber Phillips

As a part of the service learning project, I went to a food pantry with my classmate, Izabella, to hand out food to seniors in Seward Park, NY. There were about 100 seniors lined up before we started handing out the food and I was in charge of line control to make sure that they didn’t skip one another and that they had their ID to receive the food. Once they were cleared from me, they went to receive their food from the table and were given items such as cereal, soup, and orange juice. This was a slower day than usual, so Izabella and I were paired with another volunteer, Louis, and were sent to an apartment building to deliver food bags to each floor.

        During the volunteer work, I do feel like I was able to provide the help that was needed. Surely, I did wonder how often these food pantries give out food to seniors because they only received one of each item, who knows how long these food items would last them. Also, we were standing outside giving out food on a 40-degree weather day, so I did feel bad that they had all of these seniors waiting in the cold to receive only five food items. Aside from giving out food to seniors at the food pantry, I did feel that more food could have been given to those who we delivered food to in the apartment building.

        While giving out food to the seniors and to those in the apartment building, I did feel some kind of connection. One exchange I remember was between a senior and I, after I checked her ID I said “Thank you!” and she replied “No, thank you! You are helping all of us on this very cold day!” in a sweet voice and then gave me a bright smile. After this exchange, I felt more connected to those waiting for their food because I felt as though my small job had actually meant a great deal to them. Additionally, in the apartment building, which is a NYCHA building, after giving the people their food deliveries, they seemed genuinely appreciative, making me feel as if I had been making a difference in their lives.

        From this experience, I learned that there really are people who depend on these food pantries because they either don’t have enough funds to buy food or because food isn’t their main priority when spending money. I also did learn about the difficulty of trying to communicate with one another when there is a language barrier. About 95% of the seniors that we helped were Chinese and only spoke Chinese in a place where almost all of the volunteers spoke only English. This relates back to Steger’s idea of “globalization of language” where “some languages are increasingly used in international communication where others lose their prominence,” (Steger, 91). Here in New York, English is the prominent language but at these sorts of establishments, they should have more than one translator on site so that we can effectively help those in need.

        If those who go to the food pantry feel they aren’t getting enough food items from them, they could possibly arrange a meeting with one another to request more aid from the NYCHA organization. I would also envision giving the people I work with a voice by possibly providing them with a platform for them to be able to address those people at NYCHA if they felt as if they weren’t getting enough support. Additionally, there are some changes that could be made on a societal level to improve these people’s lives. Those that help these people should possess qualities such as empathy and respect. Empathy is important in helping to improve these people’s lives because you are putting yourself in their shoes and understanding how they feel, therefore having more of a drive to help them and make sure their needs are met. Also, respect is important when dealing with people in need because it helps us “navigate our personal and professional relationships” therefore driving these people to “trust locally, and invest in their local networks,” (Paquin). With respect and empathy, these people can learn to trust those around them and in their society to help fulfill their needs, free of judgment, which will eventually improve their lives.

References

Steger, M. B. (2020). Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780192589330/

Paquin, N. (2019, May 28). Trust & Respect: The World's greatest currency. Points of Light. Retrieved from https://www.pointsoflight.org/blog/trust-respect-greatest-currency-world/