This past week, our Student Service Program members spent their Thursday evening volunteering with Feeding Tampa Bay.
After learning about food insecurity and food waste in the United States in through our program’s second educational lesson, our students were able to help Feeding Tampa Bay rescue and sort food, which will be distributed to those in need across our region. Their lesson this month also covered an important leadership skill: Being proactive!
Here’s what our students had to say about this month’s educational programming and service project:
“Volunteering at Feeding Tampa Bay was a memorable experience. I learned about issues I had never thought deeply about – taking the meaning of “hunger” to a new level. It was fulfilling being able to sort food for redistribution to help our local community. Being proactive is something I can definitely apply in several facets of my life, from leadership and service to my school work. Making efforts to be proactive allows for me to be more in control and lead a stress-free lifestyle. After our lesson, it is definitely something I will be more aware about as I perform my everyday tasks.” – Rutwa Shah, Hillsborough High School
“The thing I liked most about volunteering was working as a team to get a good deed done. We got to bond with each other more, and we were able to help our community at the same time. It was a great experience that I would definitely go back to help again. What I learned from the lesson this week was to try and set goals for myself and try to think about things before I make decisions more. I also realized that even a small act can change our community in such a big way.” – Lily Bragdon, Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School
“This was a very pleasant experience and allowed to develop a new perspective on food production and waste. Before being assigned the duty of sorting the items, we were given a small introduction about the amount of food that is wasted every year. The most significant statistic that still remains fresh in my mind is that over a 100 billion pounds of food is thrown away every year in the United States, part of this food is simple thrown away by grocery stores due to the appearance of the packaging. This was very shocking and when we were put into the main warehouse, we were assigned to sort through the boxes that had been taken out by grocery stores. There was minimal damage in the appearance which surprised me because if not for Feeding Tampa Bay taking donations, all of those packages would be wasted.” – Antra Sharma, King High School
“I loved volunteering with Feeding Tampa Bay! I didn’t realize how corporations actually contribute to feeding those experiencing food insecurity. There is certainly more to be done, but it’s incredible to see the huge steps being taken to end hunger.” – Amani Haskins, Robinson High School
