A Cup of Joe for the Homeless and Hungry

 

“Where are the rum and cokes?!” shouted Allan, one of the delegation from the Knights of Columbus as our Saturday morning assembly line hit its stride. We were tasked with preparing 2,500 snack packages for our “Cup of Joe’s” project at the SHARE Food Network Warehouse. Each bag needed to be packed with seven items, including granola bars, juice packs, apple sauce and a utensil. Looking at the pallets stacked high with boxed-up  ingredients, the project seemed daunting.

We started out somewhat inefficiently with each volunteer grabbing a bag and filling it with the seven items individually before handing it to the packers. Before too long, Jerome, retired Navy and current human resources expert, suggested we split the tasks into stations and move the bags down the line, adding items along the line. Our

productivity soared and the bags began bunching up at the end of the line. This problem was quickly solved by redeploying resources to those packing the boxes for shipment to the hungry people who would benefit from our labors. Henry Ford would have been proud. Allan’s shout out for a little “hair of the dog” was a joke, but reflected the lively, almost celebratory mood in the cavernous warehouse.

Cup of Joe’s provides a nutritional breakfast for guests at Catholic Charities’ shelters, which houses 1,000 men and women a night.  It is a pretty labor intensive project, so requires a large number of volunteers. It is also a very “social” project that allows a lot of chatter and joshing as the work gets done.  The day I helped, the camaraderie was established quickly.  And, once Jerome rejiggered the process, those bags flew down the line into the boxes.

In short, it was a lot of fun and a great entry level volunteer project for people wanting to get involved in Catholic Charities.  And bring the kids along.  But don’t expect any rum and cokes, as Allan was disappointed to discover.

Category: Uncategorized