Valentine’s Day Special I: Produce Sorting At Lakeview Pantry West

Location: Lakeview Pantry West

Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013; 11 am-1 pm

Valentine’s Day; noun: A Day for the exchange of tokens of affection

Faithful readers of this blog would have noticed by now that my projects with Chicago Cares have consistently averaged between four and five times a week - on evenings and weekends.  Those with keen sense of deduction would have guessed through this that I am a single person, living in a city without any family or close friends.  Either that or I am a terrible boyfriend and someone who prefers company of strangers in his free time as opposed to spending time with loved ones.  Needless to say, I did not have any plans for this evening and was going to be doing a Chicago Cares project somewhere in the city.  But it was not any ordinary day.  As the dictionary quotes above, it is an occasion where small tokens of affection or gestures of kindness mean a lot more and are extra special.  I am unable to provide any scientific evidence to support this argument, but not everything can be justified through data.  In any case, I wanted to do something more, and thus had decided to take a day off from work and spend it doing as many Chicago Cares projects as I could.  If these travels did lead to something special for our clients, then it would be the best Valentine’s Day in a long time.

Bird's eye view, courtesy of Wilson

I studied the schedule and while there were a lot of projects on offer, timing and logistics would only permit me to participate in three.  As I made my selections, I realized that unknowingly I had picked the three main areas that Chicago Cares addresses – Hunger/Social Services, Youth Mentoring/Child Services and Senior Citizens Companionship.  First-up was ‘Produce Sorting at Lakeview Pantry’, a program headed by none other than Wilson.  I could not think of a better start than working side by side with Superman. 

The previous day we received an introductory email from Wilson where he provided the weather report for the next day, Google maps directions, along with satellite photographs of the area and street view pictures of the neighborhood.  Oh, and he had labeled them as well with colored arrows and text.  I still think he needs to work harder on his preparations! 

I took the train to Lakeview, but there was a significant walk to get to the location.  Fortunately I had the maps with clearly defined landscapes such as ‘Big Tall Church’, and thus managed to arrive well before 11 am.  The pantry is in a basement and I went in and met Carrie and Elizabeth, who work for Lakeview Pantry.  Carrie is the coordinator for this and some other facilities and chatted about the organization and the project.  We then talked about Wilson and his enthusiasm, for this and other projects.  He arrived soon thereafter, along with other volunteers, Catlin, Ellen, Steve and Ross.  Steve looked like he had been doing this for some time and immediately took charge behind the counter, setting things up and preparing for the arrival of the food van.  When it did arrive, all the food needed to be carried from the van to the basement and while Steve, Ross, myself and the driver took over the responsibility of getting the boxes from the van to the top of the stairs, Wilson would pull them down on the carts and take them inside the pantry.  Even with this arrangement, it took over 20 minutes to unload the van, which was carrying food from two stores. 

Once in the pantry, all the food needed to be weighed.  I volunteered to put the boxes and bags on the scale while Catlin noted the weight.  While one would expect meat, poultry and even fruits and vegetables to weigh a lot, it was amazing to note how heavy bags of bread were.  This was because bread was in abundance and Steve was working rapidly to stack it behind him on the shelves.  Once the numbers had been added, we learned that over 1,352 lbs. of food had been delivered.  Considering four of us unloaded it from the van; that is almost 350 lbs. per person, not counting my putting it up on the scale.  While I had enjoyed this task, I knew that in a few hours or even tomorrow, my body would complain. 

Stacking food the right way

Wilson and others were separating groceries and stacking them either on shelves, in the freezer or the refrigerator.  Wilson asked me to separate the meat into different boxes of chicken, fish, beef and pork.  Next was the box of prepared food, comprising of burritos, other dinners and even sushi!  The idea was to look for packages which had not gone past their expiration date and discard those that had.  Almost all of the prepared food was from Trader Joe’s, who are a big contributor to this and other pantries.  They donate food which is about to expire since they are unable to keep it on their shelves.  Now, I applaud them for their nobility, but looking at the amount they had given away, I was unsure if they were doing a good job in their estimations and procurement.  I mentioned this to Carrie, saying that if I were the CFO of Trader Joe’s and was in charge of costs, I would take a long hard look at my ordering system.  It is one thing to account for food that is to be given away, but another to be wasteful – even though it is going for a good cause.  However if it comes down to choosing between not doing anything to help feed people and taking a risk with costs, I would choose the later eleven times out of ten.

Apples: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Wilson then assigned me the task of sorting apples into the good and the bad.  Not being a fan of the fruit, certainly not enough to buy any, I was unsure how I would be able to do this.  What I thought would help me is deciding if it looked good enough for me to eat.  If I wouldn’t touch them, then nobody else should.  Even though the people who come to this pantry for food are living below the poverty line, they deserve to be treated with respect…and more importantly as humans.  I got the hang of it and started separating them into different buckets; the bad apples going into a bag which eventually was going to be compost.  Nothing in the place went to waste.

Ellen arranged the flowers

Ellen, who leads some nature conservation initiative,  carries the compost with her; and Ross and I helped carry three bags of it to her car.  She had also done a great job arranging flowers, which had also been a part of the delivery. The were now displayed at the entrance, making the people visiting the pantry feel welcome.  Speaking of which, it was time for Carrie to give us newcomers some information around the pantry and its mission.  According to their website, ‘Lakeview Pantry opened in 1970 with the mission of providing food to people living below the poverty level. Today we not only distribute groceries, but also help clients address the issues that often lead to food insecurity, such as unemployment and housing instability.  Lakeview Pantry is one of the longest-lived food pantries in Chicago. It originated from the efforts of a few dedicated neighbors who wanted to help people in their community who were struggling to secure the food they needed.’

The words say it all

One of their critical missions is, ‘Providing food to fill the basic needs of hungry people’.  Carrie said that they usually serve food in the evenings to families, with even a single individual being termed as ‘family’.  People are welcome to come and take as much as they want and they expect to distribute over two million pounds of food over the coming year.  Their other mission components are, ‘Increasing the interdependence of our clients through self-help initiatives and other innovative programs’ and ‘Raising awareness of hunger and poverty and working towards solutions to eliminate them’.  I have always believed in finding a permanent solution to a problem and while helping someone is good, sustaining that over a longer time-frame is critical.  Once again I am reminded of the Chinese proverb, “Once you save a life, you are responsible for it”.  According to their website, last year they launched an ‘Education and Advocacy Program’ through which they provide comprehensive statistics and information on anti-poverty research, as well as collaborations with local communities and organizations, policy center and media outreach – all efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty. 

Carrie said that besides Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Target are some of the other organizations that help out.  Having worked with Target on a project, I would not have expected anything less from them, but I salute Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods for taking active steps in our community.  Carrie took me on a tour to show some of the areas where they store other items such as canned food and even diapers.  She has been working with Lakeview Pantry for over ten years and joked that she started when she was four.  She has a great personality and a friendly demeanor.  Just the kind of person I would want leading this initiative.  We got along very well and I mentioned that I would like to participate more, besides just the Chicago Cares projects.  She showed me a calendar of events and volunteer opportunities, and there seemed to be plenty of areas where one could help.  Since there were so many volunteer needs, I asked if any of the clients had ever offered to help out.  Not that it was expected, but it would probably be a step towards their self-reliance and sustainability. 

Words of wisdom from Albus Dumbledore

Before leaving I noticed a note on the whiteboard quoting Albus Dumbledore, “We are only as strong as we are united; as weak as we are divided”.  I always say that everything I need to know in life, I have learned either from a song by Lennon & McCartney or through the words of Albus Dumbledore.  I agree wholeheartedly and we had done a great job this morning in helping out in a small, but united way.  People like Carrie are doing it everyday and are responsible through their efforts - both, operations and advocacy - for bringing people together.

My reward after a hard morning's work

Wilson told me that he was doing two other projects that day as well and I was not surprised to learn that he would in fact be present at my next stop. I bid him and Carrie farewell and walked out to explore the neighborhood before my next appointment.  I was intending to find a place to eat and reward myself with some fattening food since the smell of bread in the pantry had made me hungry, and I had after all lifted some heavy weights and deserved some pampering!  As I walked on Belmont, I saw a store called ‘Uncle Fun’s’.  I looked at the window display and it appeared to be a multi-purpose gift's and joke's shop.  I walked away, but couldn’t resist coming back for another look and finally walked in.  The girl behind the counter said she had been watching me and was wondering what took me so long. We laughed and I took my time exploring the store – for I am a huge fan of small gift's and vintage goods shops. Valentine’s Day theme was prevalent and I told her that I did not want to leave a place called ‘Uncle Fun’s’ without getting something at least.  I bought a souvenir which would make for fun reading later on in the day.  There is something about visiting a place like this which puts you in a good mood.  As I munched on my sandwich, I thought about this morning's priceless experience, even though it had left me a bit tired.  Now, after the fun shop and the cheesy goodness,  I was refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the challenges that this day would bring.