Volunteering at Oakland’s HOPE Food Pantry for Families on January 29, 2022
Every year, more than 50 thousand people are fed 750 thousand pounds of food each year by the Oakland HOPE Food Pantry. They work daily to help package and distribute food for families in need. They help veterans, disaster survivors, hungry children, and seniors get the food they deserve. Additionally, they adopted a COVID-safe form of getting food to their clients by putting groceries in their trunks for them instead of having numerous people touching the food.
As a volunteer-run organization, they require help to package the food each week and our VT Seva Detroit’s volunteers stepped up to undertake this responsibility.
Together, we helped package enough food to feed 60 families and children. The volunteers completed many tasks to help so that they could help more people in need:
· Worked as a shopper and picked out the right items from suppliers that could help people
· Loaded carts with the designated food items needed for each family
· Sorted food into bins so it could be used or recycled.
· Cleaned up racks, surfaces, and carts for future food.
Afterward, the food pantry director was amazed by their work and appraised them for their selfless acts. Together, they made a difference in people’s lives by supporting them during their time of need.
These are our wonderful volunteers who participated:
Youth: Nikhil Aerabati, Rishi Adduri, Hiba Zyna, Kushal Durga, Hrudya Kishore, Yug Patel, Supraja Pattangi, Surya Takawale, Lalitaditya Akkaraju
Adult: Zahara Begum, Giri Varadhan, Raghunath Aerabati, Anand Renganathan, Vandana Durga, Ravinder Akkaraju, Vanitha Gopalan
Please find below the appreciation received from the Oakland hope volunteer coordinator and some of our volunteers.:
Norma Okonski from Oakland Hope Food Pantry
VT Seva Detroit Youth Group volunteered at Oakland HOPE. Their goal is mentoring youth to serve in underserved communities. By volunteering in the Food Pantry Youth groups get the opportunity to understand food insecurity and the importance of social responsibility. Thank you for your support and time.
Raghunath R. Aerabati (parent volunteer)
Thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at this location. Time flew by just like that. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to do service.
Durga Sangita (parent volunteer)
Durga Sangita: A wonderful experience volunteering at Oakland Hope Food Pantry. Filled with gratitude for what we are blessed with and what we can give back to the community
Check out our compilation of photos:
Check out our Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5525078580852459
VT Seva Detroit: Capuchin Soup Kitchen, February 26, 2022
The Capuchin Soup Kitchen is a kitchen in Detroit that feeds people and families that are going through a hardship. They have served millions of meals since they started. They do multiple things to end poverty, hunger, and homelessness:
· Provide service to anyone in need
· Give away proper, hygienic food.
· Maintain a clean situation in both the kitchens and the tables
Our volunteers stepped up to help them in this fight against hunger and helped set up, cook, serve, and clean up the kitchens in their kitchen. Under the guidance of permanent volunteers at the kitchens, they helped feed multiple families and children:
· Served customers
· Packaged food bowls
· Organized food in the kitchen
· Got a hands-on experience of cooking basic food for some customers
· Mopped, dusted and stored items in the kitchens so that they were ready for the next day.
The volunteers enjoyed this experience to help in the community and together they were able to feed multiple families. The Capuchin Soup Kitchen employees were extremely appreciative of the help and hoped we could come back again.
Volunteers that participated:
Youth: Kushal Durga, Rishi Adduri, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Veeksha Somula, Akshith Ashwanth
Adult: Vandana Durga, Durga Sangita, Raghunathan Namuduri, Vanitha Gopalan
Check out our compilation of photos
Check out our Facebook Post:
A Note of appreciation from Capuchin Soup Kitchen.
Thank you to our youth and adult volunteers from VT Seva-Detroit who came by on Saturday to volunteer at our Conner meal hall. We are truly appreciative of all of our volunteers who can help us spread love and share meals with the community. God bless!
From a parent volunteer:
It was a wonderful opportunity and has had a humbling experience being able to serve at the Capuchin soup kitchen.
Blog details was compiled by one of our Youth Board volunteers: Akshay Kumar.
Blog published by Nandini Cheemalamarri