Mother and daughter team Jessica and Raena worked their first shift at Interchange Food Pantry today—on a busy Saturday.
“We first learned about Interchange online,” said Jessica, who had gotten in touch with us about volunteer opportunities earlier this week.
“We found multiple opportunities but this one seemed to be the most interesting, so we chose to come here,” said Raena, who is 11 years old. Raena is applying to the national Junior Honor Society, so she and her mom were looking for places to volunteer this summer.
“There’s a lot of activity going on here!” added Jessica, Raena’s mother, who expressed her own enthusiasm for joining Interchange to volunteer on a busy Saturday.
The mother and daughter team helped pack fruit and vegetables in produce bags to start and then moved upstairs to help check-in guests.
“Now we’re busy doing the ticket counts,” said Raena. Seated in the front of the pantry, the pair kept track of guests and wrote down orders on tickets for volunteer shoppers to then pack and deliver groceries to pantry guests.
When asked if they felt they were having an impact and whether they would want to come back, both responded, “Oh yeah, this is fun! It’s nice to help out any way that you can.”
And when asked what their favorite part about volunteering has been during their first shift, Raena enthusiastically responded, “The people!”
We appreciate the enthusiasm of first-time volunteers like these two—thank you for your gift of service, Raena and Jessica!
Are you interested in starting to volunteer with the Interchange Food Pantry? Contact us for the volunteer schedule and to learn more about opportunities for new volunteers.