by Jack Shindler
Not long after retiring, I showed up at Loaves and Fishes. I’d heard about it from a colleague sometime before, and somehow, I’d never forgotten the name. I had little notion of what I might do there but was quickly assigned to sorting fruits and vegetables. I enjoyed working in a team of eight people, four on either side of a huge stainless-steel table on which boxes of produce – from blueberries to potatoes – kept arriving. I soon learned the ropes: how to squeeze into blue plastic gloves, how to distinguish the good from the bad, and where to place the produce to keep. What’s more, I began to look forward to seeing my fellow sorters and learning more about them.
This kind of camaraderie became my first experience of what I’d call “the joy of volunteering” at L&F. But it soon became much more. I was assigned to registration and moved to a different kind of table, one on which I found a computer instead of a carton of fruit. I quickly had to learn how to stay abreast of an ever-changing program of enrolling and checking in our clients. Now, I could not only connect with a new set of volunteers but, even more importantly, with an ever-growing group of clients. Holas and hellos became warmer and more frequent. I began to look forward to seeing familiar faces returning every week – people from Illinois and from many other countries, all trying to make ends meet in our surrounding communities.
As much as I wish that our clients didn’t have to come to L&F, I feel privileged to be able to help them put food on the table – and, as an extra gift, to feel the joy that comes from making connections. In a world where “doing something” sometimes seems futile and pointless, I encourage anyone interested in volunteering to join the rewarding and purposeful work at Loaves and Fishes. Check out the website and sign up for orientation. I’ll always be glad I did.
Jack Shindler is a volunteer at Loaves & Fishes Community Services. To contact him reach out to Joni Wiltz at jwiltz@loaves-fishes.org or visit loaves-fishes.org.
