Taters & Tunes!

When we were assigned our reaching for equity final project, I immediately knew that I wanted to volunteer with senior citizens in some way. I don't really get to interact with my grandparents and I know the elderly who are put in homes don't get to interact with young people a lot either. When Josh, Brooke, Karlie and I tried to volunteer at the Fremont Healthcare Center, however, a whole bunch of shenanigans went down. Pretty much, the activities director was on leave, not available, or "might" be there in the afternoon so I called the Tri-City Volunteers as a back-up and that's where Josh and I went on Wednesday. We got there and had to fill out paperwork, assuring them we weren't sex offenders or anything, and then we were assigned to cleaning windows. I was Windex-ing and wiping and Josh was disinfecting all doorhandles. We also cleaned the windows of their thrift store and talked about going back because it looked like a fun place to shop. After we were done making those windows and doorhandles sparkle, the lady in charge took us to the food bank where we met up with Brooke, Casey, and Norma. They had already been there for a little while and showed us what to do. After putting on some superchic working vests and gloves, we got to packing potatoes for families in need. It was really laidback because the people in charge were just kind of doing their own thing and letting us do ours. After changing it from some country station, we listened to our type of music on the radio and packed potatoes in a sort of assembly line. I ripped off the bags from the roll, opened them and held them out for Josh, who would put a good amount of potatoes in it then hand it to Brooke, who would tie it and place it in the barrels. There were students there from other schools and two random men, but we were really the only ones enjoying ourselves and making volunteering fun. Although we were having fun, I also felt like we were really helping those in need. The potatoes, onions, bread, and more in the warehouse go to families who aren't necessarily able to get such things as easily as others. Tri-City Volunteers, however, does a good job of making sure these families have access to these foods. After having a good afternoon, we definitely plan on volunteering at Tri-City Volunteers for the rest of our project's hours and most likely our community service hours as well.