VOLUNTEER - Day of Caring, A Staff Perspective

by Monika Sundbaum, Account Executive

September 18, 2009 was an absolutely perfect autumn day in Pierce County - a day whose crisp, chilly morning transformed into an explosion of gorgeous warm sunshine by 10 a.m.

I made my way through the twisty, winding path to the FISH Food Bank in Edgewood, excited to meet my fellow volunteers for the day! I pulled into the parking lot and met three incredible women from Puget Sound Energy: Janet, Jennifer and Rayme. They were decked out in LIVE UNITED t-shirts and ready to roll. We were warmly welcomed by Pat and Steven who were working at FISH that day.

They took us on a tour of the beautiful facility and talked to us about the need for basic food assistance. We talked about how families who never pictured not being able to buy their own food are now standing in line, asking for help.

We also talked about solutions: FISH staff members look at their clients’ needs holistically – in fact, the Edgewood site (one of seven FISH sites in Pierce County) is piloting a partnership with South Sound Outreach Services – check out this great article in The News Tribune about it.

The four of us performed many tasks the staff have been wanting to work on, but just hadn’t had time to get to. Perfectly understandable, considering they’ve gone from serving 800 people to 3,000 people a month! Who has time to refinish wood when you can barely keep up stocking the shelves?

It was an honor to help – and Janet, Jennifer and Rayme were wonderful! Huge thanks to them and Puget Sound Energy for LIVING UNITED, and to Pat and Steven for the incredible work they do every day.

Pierce County Hunger Facts
More than 140,000 children, seniors and adults seek help finding food in Pierce County. Of these individuals:

• 52% are children and seniors (38% children under 19, 14% individuals over 55)
• 98% fall below the national poverty line
• Almost half are families with at least one adult working

During 2008 there were a total of 844,551 visits to Food banks and 833,230 visits to Hot Meal Sites in Pierce County. (Source: Pierce County Community Indicators Website)