As temporary members of the Franz family, we tagged along today as volunteers. As a service to the community, various churches in Manhattan put together volunteer groups to hand out food once a week to families in the area. Rod and Karen, though they are Mennonites, help a group organized through a local Methodist church once a month. A truck is dispatched from Topeka with various food goods. The supply varies each month, but it is always surplus food that is nearing the expiration date. As Rod says, "So much food is wasted in this country, it's a wonderful way to help people and prevent wasting food." The system is efficient. The truck arrives, pallets of goods are unloaded, the volunteers set various items on tables, and then the patrons drive through. Each car has a number which represents the number of families they are gathering for. As the cars pass, an amount of goods is loaded into the car. For example, I was handing out gallon jugs of potato salad. If a car came with a three on the wind shield, I'd give them three units, or three jugs, of salad. The Methodist group hands out food to feed about two hundred fifty families each month. The whole process takes about an hour as car after car passes through the stations. Today, the tables were filled with cabbages, watermelons, sweet potatoes, apples, grapes, chocolate milk, potato salad, yogurt, greens, eggs, bread, cakes, pies, muffins, cookies, and rolls. On a note of "That ain't right!" very often a young mother whose husband is serving our country as a private in the Army drives through because the salary of an E1 isn't sufficient to cover his family's needs. Several cars had polite, very cute, and grateful children safely buckled into the back seats. And not just young families come through the line. Many elderly people came through. I heard one woman say her car door was adjusted for her disabled son. Those receiving food are asked no questions. They simply line up and the volunteers load their cars with whatever is on the truck. Although I have no way of knowing if this is typical, today two people walked through, and two people carried shopping bags as they pushed their bicycles through. I also saw one car with what appeared to be bedding pushed aside in the back. It's not beyond the realm of belief to assume that the car was home. Our adventure is intended to broaden our experiences and modify our perceptions, and we've been figuring a way to be of service to the larger community. Today, as tag alongs with the Franz's, we helped a little bit, and tomorrow I'm going to Hesston with Rod to help organize clothing that is distributed to those in need. As you might have guessed, Rod and Karen spend much of their energy in projects that help others. They are an inspiration, and I was reminded today that I'm among those fortunate to live the good life, especially today.
Nine A.M. the truck arrives.
The crew gets organized.
The goods are spread out.
Volunteers remove the wooden pallets and recycle the cardboard.
The line is just about ready.
Potato Salad.
The Hunny Bunny was at the yogurt table. In typical fashion, I heard her often add her personal touch. She would ask, "Would you like peach, mango or blueberry yogurt?"
The cars filed steadily through for an hour.
Though in need, this lady told me she didn't want to take potato salad because she didn't eat it last time.
Janice Reitz, a member of the Methodist congregation, Karen Franz, Judy's sister, and my Hunny Bunny, a Zag fan.
Coco, the Franz family dog, ready to get out of the hospital. He's an "IT" now, but I'm sure he's grateful he gets three square doggy meals a day. I know I am.
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