The Hunger That Hides Next Door by Alexa

The Hunger That Hides Next Door by Alexa - March 2024 Scholarship Essay

Summer! School was out for the year and I was more than ready to hit the beach, ride some waves, and play some softball! Just as I drifted off into a glorious daydream about the days of fun and luxury that were about to fill my immediate future, my mom entered my room. She started rambling about the time I would have on my hands and used that dreaded phrase she loves so dearly…make it productive.

After rolling my eyes and sighing heavily, I walked over to my desk and picked up the list of community volunteer opportunities that our school had shared. I scanned the alphabetical list quickly and was about to put it back down when I noticed an organization toward the bottom of the list…Warminster Food Bank. A food bank? I couldn’t imagine who in our community could actually be hungry enough to need a food bank?

I knew my mom was right about having some free time on my hands, even though I would never admit it to her. I thought to myself, there was absolutely no way that this food bank in our community could be busy, but I contacted them to see if they needed some help and they said to come in.

On my first day, I met the team of volunteers who put me to work picking and packing food items for a family who was coming in need of food. As I packaged the food, I listened to the volunteers talking about how rising food prices were increasing demand. Apparently, I was in for a busy day and there were some local families who were actually in need of food. The food bank director shared with me that their volunteers had donated over 5,000 hours of their time in 2023 and the food bank had gone from serving 450 families annually pre-Covid to serving 3,000 families a year.

My duties were simple—sort and bag groceries—but the experience was profound. As I worked, I watched and listened to the stories of those who came in search of food. A woman came in asking for food. She had escaped the war between Russia and Ukraine. She was scared, spoke little English, and had a baby to feed. A man, who had recently lost his job, had a family with three children to feed. I felt sad for the children, then I saw one of them. I recognized the boy who had come to help his father carry the donated food. He went to my school! HE WAS JUST LIKE ME, except he was hungry.

Working with the Warminster Food Bank team of volunteers definitely changed my perspective. Before that day, I couldn’t imagine that anyone in my community would be struggling with food insecurity. I decided to join the Warminster Food Bank team in helping those struggling with hunger and signed up as a summer volunteer. I told my softball teammates and coaches what I had learned, and even organized a small food drive with my softball team, collecting 300 pounds of food to donate to the food bank.

I never thought that those around me, people in my own community, were struggling with food insecurity. The small amount of time I invested volunteering over the summer helped me to learn and grow exponentially. We’re all equal on this journey together through the joys and struggles of humanity. Shouldn’t we all help each other? My volunteer experience was just a small investment in my community. But my single set of hands were part of a bigger movement that helped 3,000 local families avoid hunger this year.