Volunteering on Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving, I volunteer for an organization that helps provide meals for the elderly.  I could not imagine sleeping in on Thanksgiving because I feel that it's important to volunteer for a good cause.  I recently learned that my elderly neighbor is a recipient of the meals, so it means that much more to volunteer my time.

Last year, I was assigned to the parking lot, which is definitely not my forte.  However, it was a good experience and a lot of fun to see the hundreds of bikers who help out every year!  Somewhere, on someone's camera is a picture of me with a bunch of bikers.  I wish I could have that photo! 

For this Thanksgiving, however, I was able to land a spot on the tray line. I'm grateful that I could work in the trayline, scooping up green beans!  It's definitely a lot of fun!  I didn't see any bikers this year though (since I was in the kitchen the entire time), but it was nice to see a ton of familiar faces volunteering too.  We helped prepare approximately 800 plates for the elderly. 

While we were serving, all I could here was staff members reminding us, "Remember, leveled scoops!" Due to the budget cuts from a poor economy, the amount of food had to be portioned, so that enough people could be fed.  I overheard another woman say, "I can't believe we are only making 800 plates because nearly 5 years ago, we served 2,000."  Although there were only 800 plates, I'm glad that at least 800 elderly were able to enjoy a holiday meal.