By Noah H., Grade 10 student
I had never been inside a food bank before. To learn more about food banks and food security, our senior Food Studies class went to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank on a field trip.
As soon as we arrived at the building I was amazed at how large it was, it was a much bigger operation than I had originally thought. Inside the huge open concept warehouse there was more food in one area than I had ever seen before in my life! During our welcome, we sat in the lounge area and had some snacks while we went through the expectations with the staff. The staff were very kind and friendly and gave us great information about their operation and what we would be doing that day.
After donning our safety vests, we spent our time packing grocery bags for Senior’s Week. I was at the front of the line and my job was to grab a bag, put a carton of eggs into it and pass it down the supply train formed by my classmates. Each grocery bag was filled with eggs, barley or chickpeas, cheese, tortellini, napa, garlic, and cans of soup. It was pretty easy work and it was fun to do as well. It was rewarding knowing that each bag we packed was going to bless someone in need. After packing for a couple of hours we took a quick snack break in the lounge and got back to it. After about 4 hours of packing we had packed over 300 bags!
In all I would say my trip to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank was a very eye opening experience. I had no idea that there was such a big operation going on that was blessing the lives of so many. I would definitely recommend volunteering there any chance you get.