u/BoxenOxen

I recently got the opportunity to go with some co-workers to volunteer at the SA food bank and I thought there might be people like me who'd like to do something like this but have some anxiety trying new things or going unfamiliar places so I wanted to share my experience because it was really great.

We were able to set up our volunteer shift online. It asks for some basic information and gives you a choice of where you want to volunteer. We chose the warehouse.

I made the mistake of parking in the parking garage when I got there because I wasn't sure where to go. I had a slight walk to the volunteer Center so you'll want to park in the parking lot closest to the highway in the front of the building that looks like the offices.

I got there about 20 minutes early and once you walk inside the volunteer Center you check in on a kiosk and then go sit in the waiting area. Looks like a mini auditorium. Once your shift time starts someone will come in and do an introduction and you'll watch a brief video. Then the representative will tell you a little bit about what you'll be doing and give you a tutorial.

Then you will walk together in a group to the warehouse. A few people volunteered on the pallet jacks and the rest of us were sorting. As soon as you walk in there is a long row of sinks. There are antibacterial wipes available for surfaces. The Warehouse is very organized. Everybody will line up on both sides of a table where there are banana boxes already set up. They will give some more details and a few visual aids for sorting things into these boxes. They show you where everything is and you really start to feel at home, as odd as that sounds. What you do is take donations, check expiration dates, and start sorting them into boxes on the table in categories like canned vegetables, canned fruit, glass and condiments, dry pantry, etc. When the box is full but not too full to carry, you take it over to the specific pallet it belongs to. When the pallet gets full they take it away and set up a new one. Some items are more rare and so not everybody will dedicate their boxes to it so you might start walking around seeing if someone has a beverage box you can put your things in so you can get it off your table and keep sorting the boxes you are dedicated to.

Towards the end they tell you to stop sorting new items and just get the stuff on your table sorted and put on pallets.

Then they give you a quick debrief where they show you the impact of your work and everybody sweeps and wipes down surfaces real quick. Numerical values are displayed on a screen to show you how much you sorted.

There were restrooms very close to the sorting area. I also saw lockers.

There were big fans helping to keep the air cool and breezy. Everything was very well structured and it was actually fun.

It's encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle.

From the sounds of it I understand the warehouse work can vary in nature but it was so well structured and organized.

I also saw opportunities for people of differing abilities to help. If you can't lift and move around cans it was helpful when someone stood there and organized the boxes as they filled so we could just put things in more quickly. It was also helpful to have someone bring us more empty boxes. There was a representative always nearby and they were so helpful and happy to help, and you were able to ask them questions if you were unsure about an item or unsure about a dent.

It was a really great experience and I highly encourage everyone looking for something like this to take the leap.