One of the things we've been focusing on since retirement is what we can do to make a difference. What are the programs, jobs, or services we can engage in that offer obvious and verifiable results that impact people's lives? We have the time, the money and the desire to get involved in programs that we feel good about. Whether it's church related, a Rotary program, something for Veterans or any other program that touches our heart, if it makes a tangible difference then we're probably in.
Several months ago the CEO of "Feeding San Diego" spoke at my Rotary Club and most of us were blown away by both the statistics of how much food goes to waste in the U.S. and how this program is impacting people in a very simple way...by providing them food, no questions asked. Feeding San Diego has adopted a distributed model which makes huge sense. They administer the program and have satellite feeding centers. They work with local grocery stores and food warehouses to collect unused and out-of-date food and volunteers get it to the centers for distribution. It is a huge no brainer. I still remember what he said, "there are a lot of problems in the world that we can't do anything about, but we can do something about hunger".
Coincidentally, right about that time a woman in our church announced that we were starting a Feeding San Diego distribution site. We signed up right away and have found ourselves spending about 3 hours once a month helping set up and distribute food. We have volunteers who go to Target, Costco and Sprouts on Sunday morning to pick up food that is out of date or they are donating. There is a wide range of what we receive. Our coordinator uses Sign-up Genius to get the word out and solicit volunteers so we get a lot of people and kids from the community to sign up to help. We spend about an hour setting the food out on tables and sorting it. By 2:00 pm when the doors open we usually have about 30-40 people lined up to partake. They come in 2 at a time in an orderly fashion and we sometimes have to restrict how many of a particular item people can take (usually meat). But other than that they can take what they want. No questions asked. We get all kinds of people. Some who look like they really need the help and some who don't. But all are appreciative. One woman a week or so ago said to us, "thank you for preserving our dignity". This is an impactful, important program that is making a difference in so many lives.
But working with volunteers is difficult. There seems to be a cycle that any project goes through with volunteers. At least it appears to me that there is. It usually starts out with a lot of enthusiasm and optimism. Everyone wants to pitch in and participate. But it's almost like a bell curve. Most programs build over time until they reach a tipping point. The project becomes routine. Volunteers lose enthusiasm. Leaders get burnt out. As you come back the downside of the curve, things start to unravel and at some point it usually fades away. I'm not saying all, but a lot of programs that rely on volunteers go through that cycle. I'm a bit worried that Feeding San Diego at our church is approaching the backside of the curve. The woman who started with such enthusiasm has to give up leadership in September and so far no one is stepping up to fill the void. We are doing a lot of other things and just can't assume responsibility for another program. We've talked to people about sharing leadership but so far no go. The thing is that it wouldn't be difficult or time consuming, but for some reason a lot of people (more than I would think) tend to really shun leadership.
But some who are reading know us and know where we live and know where we go to church. We need your help. If you have a few hours a week and would like to share leadership (and we'll help you), please reach out. Call the office, call or PM me, or talk to someone about stepping up. You'll be glad you did...and I guarantee you'll be making a difference!
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