Packing Potatoes

For the reaching for Equity Project, Casey and I went to the Tri-City Volunteer Center. While I was originally supposed to go to the Alameda County Library, I did not receive an e-mail in time for me to volunteer. Luckily for me, Casey went to the Tri-City Volunteer Center with Josh, Genesis, and Brooke, and offered to take me when she volunteered again. When I got there, I had to fill out the typical paperwork that needs to be filled out before you can volunteer, during which Casey made sure I checked the "I am not a sex offender" box.

After filling out the papers, we went straight to work. Casey and I volunteered to bag some potatoes, a job that Casey did when she last volunteered. Since she was accustomed to the work, she was able to show me the ropes. We started a small two-person assembly line where she would bag and I would tie the bags. There were lots of other volunteers, including Zena, Alencio, and Francis, who were given another job. While the work was monotonous, the fact that I had people to talk to helped to get me through the tedious job of tying bags while wearing gloves that made your hands sweaty. Despite the somewhat boring job, it felt nice knowing that what we were doing was helping to give back to a community that we often overlook, and made me realize that we take the opportunities given to us for granted since many of us are capable of buying useless things while some people need to rely on these great programs for their basic needs like food. I really hope I come back to the center and even though I already have my required hours to graduate, it would be a great place to get more hours for this project, and also a great place to volunteer again just to feel like I am helping the community out.