Community Service at TABLE

The first week in May is a feel good week. The days are brighter. Summer is near. Even better is we get to go out in the community and give back. This year we returned to TABLE’s new location in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Prior to our visit, we learn that not every child comes to school with a breakfast and a lunch. Furthermore, they often go home to a bare pantry. TABLE volunteers provide food to some students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School on Friday so they will have food for the weekend.

We loaded up Mrs. Donnelly’s car with suggested donations and headed to our destination. After learning a bit more from Laura, we began to unload her car with food purchased that day. Yes, a ton of it. Literally.

Our next task was to unpack the food and clearly label the expiration date. There was spaghetti for days. Everyone worked efficiently and collaboratively, stepping into leadership roles as they arose.

The final stage was an assembly line effort to fill each bag for each student with the necessary items so they have nutritious food for the weekend. Once again, everyone worked at lightning speed with a huge smile. We began with a bag and some crackers.

Next, tuna and soup were added.

Following that, we included oatmeal, a granola bar, a fruit cup, macaroni, and then juice boxes.

At the end of the line, it was important to have our quality control team to make sure we had the correct number of items.

Nothing is wasted. We made sure that the boxes were recycled before we headed back to school.

So proud of this crew! They worked nonstop for almost two hours that afternoon. Children helping children. Thank you TABLE and Laura for allowing us to give back in such a meaningful way. We are grateful for the parents who coordinated and came on this adventure with us as well as donating even more food. It was an all around feel good day.

If you have plastic bags you want to recycle, 1,100 were used for that Friday’s delivery. You can drop them off in the white box near the back door of TABLE. If you’d like to donate food or your time, please contact Laura for specifics. There is always more to do.

Community Service Blog by Jack H

At school we have community service twice a year. At the beginning of the year we went sweet potato picking. We also have one at the end of the year and for that one we went to a place called TABLE. Because some kids cannot afford food they get school lunches but on the weekend they have no food to eat. TABLE helps with that problem by sending food home with them. We donated food to TABLE by bringing 260.5 pounds of food. We did a few different things while we were there. For instance, we wrote the expiration date on the cans so they knew when the food expired. Then after that we split into teams and put the food where it was supposed to go on the shelves. Then some friends and I went outside and swept the porch and the steps to the porch. If I had a chance to do it again I would.

 

Community Service by Sylvia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Sylvia

Last Wednesday, the middle school had a community service day and every advisory did something different to help the community. The Donnelly advisory went to TABLE. TABLE is an organization that collects food for kids who wouldn’t normally have a dinner over the weekend. At TABLE, we brought food in, weighed it, put the expiration dates on it, and sorted it in its category of food’s shelf. Then we filled bags with food that was already there. There was all sorts of food: canned foods, vegetables, beans, milk boxes, juice boxes, fruit cups, pasta, foods in packets that I had no idea what they were, etc. I think that we all did something to help our community and the people that we helped are probably very grateful.

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Community Service by David P

 

 

 

 

 

This month, we went to TABLE to do our community service project. TABLE’s mission is to give food to kids who might not have it over the weekend. They want to give them food that they like, not always just rejected canned food like beets or broccoli. We went to TABLE after lunch, with the food we were bringing. We brought over 260 pounds of food. We then put the expiration dates on them, so that the ones closest to expiring would be served first. We then were assigned different kinds of food to shelve, and then we put the food on shelves. We sorted the food by date. I did canned pasta. It made me feel good to donate food that would help someone that needed food. I hope that the food we gave can let kids who couldn’t normally get it get the foods that they like over the weekend.

 

Community Service by Franny C

On Wednesday, my school had community service. We did it by advisory, or our “home room” and each advisory did something different. My advisory went to a place called “TABLE.” I’m not exactly sure what it stood for, though, it may not have stood for anything. While there, we met a lady named Laura, and we packed, weighed, and sorted food that the advisory, and others had brought to TABLE. We did not do it, but we learned, that after our hard work was completed, the food would go to children in all different schools and give them something to eat over the weekend if they did not have enough food for all three meals for each day over the weekend. I felt bad for the children who were sometimes hungry and was glad to be helping them.

Our process was simple, but long. First, we weighed the food we brought in- about 260 lbs! Then we wrote the expiration dates on the food, and sorted them into buckets under the shelves they went on. Third, we put the food on the shelves- the sertain shelves with their expiration dates- and finally, we sorted thought the expired food, wrote the dates on them, and put them in the back room in a bin.

 

Community Service: Working for TABLE by Miriam D.

Image by me, Miriam D.

I have always liked community service at the middle school. It has always been really fun and rewarding for me. But this time I particularly liked it! My advisory went to TABLE in Carrboro, North Carolina. TABLE is an organization that gives food to kids who can’t afford it. Kids may get free meals at school during the week, but have nothing to eat a home over the weekend. So TABLE tries to provide fresh, healthy foods that kids like to eat. I had donated and worked there before with my family, so it was fun going back.

Over a couple of weeks, my advisory had brought in food to donate to TABLE when we went. We collected 260.5 pounds of food!!! Then we wrote the expiration date on all of the food that we brought. If something didn’t have a date or was expired, it went into a bucket that goes to a food market where people come in knowing that food may be opened or expired, but get to shop for free!!! Then we stacked all of the food that we brought on the particular shelves that they go on. They are VERY organized! After that we put all of the expired, opened, or not dated food into bags so that it could go off to that market. But sadly, after that, it was time to go. I am definitely going to sign up to work there again, and I feel really good knowing that I helped someone!

 

Community Service By Neil M

 

 

 

 

 

I am lucky as a Durham Academy student to have the opportunity to give back to the community. My advisory helped out at TABLE. TABLE is one small organization that makes a big difference. People like you and me volunteer  and donate to keep the organization running. TABLE takes donated food and helps send it to local people in need.

First the advisory collected 260 pounds of food. Then we sorted through it and moved aside the food that was expired. We put the food on shelves and prepared it for donation. I feel grateful that I could spend some time helping others that need food.