The Connected Chef
Dennis Bravo
The goal of service learning and volunteering is to treat it as a reciprocal experience, which means that you bring your own values, expertise, life experiences, and knowledge to the experience and are open to learning from and connecting with those you served with. Rather than seeing my life as privileged, I put myself in the shoes of those working with me to learn from them to promote solidarity, connection, and participation in democracy. I signed up and participated in packing groceries with The Connected Chef, well around the corner in the heart of Long Island City.
My Experience
My team and I were assigned a job shortly after seeing a truck loading food for us. At first, it wasn’t as clear to us what we should do, but this person stepped in to help the director bring the food packaging inside the covering tent. I stepped in to see if they needed some help and quickly started loading off food while the other team members had to arrange the boxes together. Then we had to count every single fruit and vegetable in each package and organize reusable grocery bags that were going to be sent to pantries and churches around the community.
I felt like I was able to help The Connected Chef because it wasn't done alone; it was done by a group of people who were aware of the consequences. "When we care for ourselves, we can better care for others," said co-founder and director Omar Bravo-Pavia. I genuinely do believe I felt a connection with the people I worked with; for example, one of our duties was to count every single plastic bag to make sure we had about 1000 reusable grocery bags for the people to carry their groceries. We all thought it was going to be impossible, but as a team, we worked together. We managed to come up with a plan and decided to count each bag by 50, so it would be easier for all of us. With words of encouragement and connection through the music played in the background, we managed to count 1000 reusable grocery bags in total.
What I learned from my experience is that everyone has worked toward their shared vision to make a difference with the practice of open communication, boundary setting, and transparency across all areas where we played together as a team. While putting the packaging inside the tent, I got the chance to meet one of the volunteers, and he really demonstrated the true meaning of volunteering and helping the community. I would always see him asking when the next service would be, eager to assist, and encouraged to plant vegetables in the small garden that had been installed but had not yet been planted for the summer. This is covered in module 8, Human Rights, where the reading "How You Can Fight Climate Change" quotes "voicing your concerns—via social media or, better yet, directly to your elected officials," meaning you can send a message that you care about the warming world you live in. His smile, compassion, and enthusiasm towards the project truly motivated me to start participating in these services that make a difference in someone's life, whether making a small or large contribution. The cold weather outside and having to load these heavy packages off the truck and count every single number of fruits and vegetables even with the covering before the wind and cold came through later could have been a challenge.
I envision empowering and giving a voice in the future by co-founding a non-profit organization with my father, assisting in hunger relief, and collaborating with dozens of mutual aid and aligned partners across NYC. My father and I would also fund food donations and food delivery to hungry people, as well as make it very accessible rather than having to apply online, which unfortunately many people do not have as easily as we do. In globalization and culture, Truth and Respect: The World’s Greatest Currency, quoted "It is the force of human kindness that will change this trend—but it will take every person, man, woman, and child, to act to create this wave of change." The changes that this service has made and will continue to make on a societal level are improving and creating a food system that solves food insecurity throughout the community, addressing hunger in all five boroughs.
References:
Bravo-Pavia, O. (n.d.). About Us. The Connected Chef. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://www.theconnectedchef.org/about-us
Denchak, M. D. (2022, July 13). How you can stop global warming. NRDC. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming