Some days I take the basics for granted, but not most days, not any more. I went through a stretch when I sometimes didn’t have much in the way of groceries in my refrigerator. On those days I figure out how to eat something and prepare something for my son, who lived with me at the time. I was able at times to bring home produce from the Berkeley Food Pantry where I worked as a volunteer once per week handing out groceries to families in the local community. I was grateful to be able to serve the community every Wednesday at the Pantry, and likewise grateful to be able to occasionally bring some food home for our family. Food is a basic necessity that many people in the country have to periodically (or frequently) go without. I am grateful that, though there have been times that I’ve occasionally been hungry that I’ve never starved or gone without to the extent that many people do as their daily reality. There’s something wrong with this picture in one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
The other night on ABC news they ran a segment on how they were able to show a married couple with two kids how much money they were wasting on their food bill. In the report they asked the mom how much they spent on groceries and she replied $300 a week, or around $1200 per month. Really? Wow. As I watched the segment I found myself thinking about the families at the pantry who came a couple of times per month to get a couple of bags of groceries. I thought about how far that one family’s $300 per week would go for some of the families we served in the pantry. They went on to show the family how much of the food they purchased or prepared ended up being tossed into the garbage. It was pretty amazing to watch and to think about in terms of how much food the average U.S. American family throws out.
Now that I’m working full time again and commuting in the evening I have been too tired to find a new volunteer opportunity like I had at the Berkeley Food Pantry. I’ve done some online investigations of a place or two in the area, but haven’t done an exhaustive search. And with my schedule at the moment I spend most of my weekend time recovering from the week. Still, I’d like to find a place and then carve out time and energy to volunteer at least every so often. I miss my friends at the Pantry–such good people doing such important work. I am grateful for the many lessons I learned from the year I spent volunteering there. Most notably, I was able to see and experience what the face of hunger in that community looked like and it wasn’t what most people might expect.
My journey of the past few years hasn’t been easy, but I have learned a lot about myself and about the world around me and I’ve grown to truly appreciate all the good things that surround me, the blessings that I enjoy in my life. I confess that I am ready for life to get a bit easier for me, but until it does I’ll continue to do my best to approach each day with a sense of gratitude. Thank you for being on this journey with me. I hope you continue to be inspired to pay attention to and be grateful for the many wonderful things that surround you. May it be so.
