Food Bank

I never reveal anybody's identity here in this blog and if anyone is introduced, a nickname is selected and assigned to him or her but this time I won't even use a nickname. One of my buddies decided to check the Food Bank out and an arrangement was made through that last week. I accompanied him to assist with the stuff, which is specifically called hamper in there, as well as having a new experience. 

Upon our arrival a gentleman in his late 50's probably great us and offered a candy. It was almost 10:00 AM and I had not eaten anything since last night's dinner. So that felt very good. Food Bank is basically ran by a big number of volunteers. Many of them are men and women in their 50's and 60's who freely dedicate themselves to the organization. There are younger people there as well but every one is nice and smiling. You have no idea how this affect a poor hungry person and even a regular person who reaches up to them. 

We stood in a line which was not very long. I guess we spent around 15 min. or so and we were directed to registration booths where they check IDs and compare them to the information they had received. Then the people are directed to The Pantry and there are two types of food provided to them: There are foods in the bags and boxes which are ready and there are items that people are asked and give to. That was my first experience and I was overwhelmed by how this system works. Part of the items are the ones that are about to expire. There's no fruit and not much vegetables. The majority of the items are what poor people eat just to feel full: Potato Chips, Bread, lots of them, different types of canned food, including meet and vegetables. Lots and lots of juice and milk, cheese and everything that you can imagine. They say this is a portion of a month but you can eat all of that and still have some left. After pick up there are even people who help you to push your cart to your vehicle! But let's see who goes to Food Bank? There were people from all backgrounds: Caucasians, head-covered women, Blacks, Orientals, Hispanics, all in shabby cloths, the poor people and their features showed they didn't have a very happy life! I feel bad for the most but what was amazing is the way they got help. This is an amazing part of Western culture. One might say: Oh these are all old and bad food. They would have been thrown out, had they not been distributed between these people. This is not true. There are many good food items that I had them in my kitchen cabinets and they had months to expire. In addition to that these amazing people who help others without expecting anything. How about that? You never see something like that in countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Jordan and similar who claim to have the best religion and culture! This is the true meaning of a humanitarian act. Thank you all.