Repackaging over two thousand pounds of turnips may not sound like the most fun way to spend a long weekend, but when combined with good friends, and the opportunity to serve the food insecure in our community, a seemingly menial task is given great significance.
On January 19th, ten FoodCorps Connecticut service members came together in honor of Martin Luther King Jr to take a break from their regular service activities and combine efforts on a single project focused on an issue significant to the communities they serve, hunger.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?”
-Martin Luther King Junior
As a FoodCorps service member, I can say with confidence, that I am doing a great deal for others, most significantly for the youth in New Britain, where my service site Community Health Center of New Britain is located. This day of service, gave FoodCorps service members like myself the opportunity to serve outside of their service sites and in their greater state community. In the FoodCorps Connecticut family, ten of us spent the afternoon at FoodShare, a local organization that secures donated food from the food industry and distributes that food to food pantries, community kitchens, shelters, and other programs serving those in need.
Together we created an assembly line, turning fifty pound bags of turnips in to portions suitable for a family. I was on the inspecting and bagging team, as I carefully examined the turnips to ensure their best quality I daydreamed of all the delicious soups and stews that would be made.
Organizations like FoodShare, FoodCorps service members, and conscerned citizens agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, access to food is a human right.
“I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for the minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
As Krizl lifted the last fifty pound bag of turnips off the pallet, a sense of accomplishment surrounded the room. That was, until the second pallet, stacked even taller then the last with bags of turnips, came in on a fork lift. It takes more than a group of ten to ensure that all those who need a healthy meal get it, but sometimes it only takes one passionate person to inspire others to do something great for their communities.
