Having been raised a Christian, I have always been taught to help others. Seven years

ago, my wife and I adopted two boys ages 8 and 11. Our family of four became six. My

wife and I wanted our children to learn the importance of helping others, so as a family

we started volunteering; Bingo once a month at the Smyrna Hospital for the Chronically

Ill, manicures and pedicures at the Luther Towers residence for the elderly, and working

and DJing the annual foster care Christmas party for Children’s Choice. We also made

financial and clothing donations and recycled on a regular basis.

As the kids grew and became more involved in other activities, we found it increasingly

difficult to find time to volunteer with our busy schedules. For me, that all changed in

March of this year. My programmer analyst job with a local financial institution was

eliminated after 22 years of service.

The current economy has hit a lot of people hard; many people are out of work and have

no way to pay their bills let alone put food on the table. On that fateful day in March, I

joined the ranks of the unemployed. Thank goodness for my wife, Maryann, who is still working and along with my severance package from the bank, we’ve managed to stay afloat for now, as I continue to look for a new job.

 If I were to say I wasn’t bitter or depressed when I was let go, that would be a lie. I had worked my entire adult life, it was all I knew, and now it is gone. After spending several weeks getting over the shock, and my wife telling me to stop moping around the house, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. I decided to try to find somewhere where I could volunteer my time and skills to keep me occupied and break up the monotony of searching and applying for jobs.

One night my wife and I were watching TV and a commercial came on talking about how many hungry children there were in the United States and how we could help by donating food, money or volunteering time at a local food bank. The next day, I did some research on the internet, and found the Food Bank of Delaware Web site www.fbd.org. I found that they had two sites, one in Newark and one in Milford. Since I live in Selbyville, the Milford location seemed to be close enough at 45 minutes one way. I contacted the volunteer coordinator, Trevor Turner, and told him of my desire to spend some time volunteering at the food bank. Trevor told me to come down and he would give me a tour and find something for me to do. When I arrived, Trevor gave me the tour and asked what skills I had and what would I like to do. I simply told him, I will do anything you need me to do. Every since that day, I have volunteered at the food bank every Tuesday and Wednesday starting with the last week in March.

During my 150 volunteer hours at the Food Bank, I’ve done many things, from reorganizing and stocking the Shoppers' Choice shelves, to helping deliver agency orders, putting training packets together, assisting in entering donations into the inventory system, assisting other volunteers when they first come to the Food Bank and currently, assisting in the packing of meals for the children’s Summer Food Service Program. In addition, I was asked if I was interested in helping out at the Comcast Cares event at the Food Bank on Saturday, April 2, 2009. What an incredible event, I brought my two boys, my mom and dad and along with all the other volunteers, we put together 1,200 family food and health/beauty packages together for distribution to families in need in the area. In June, my youngest son Carter and I assisted at a mobile feeding event at the Jefferson Apartments in Lewis sponsored by PIXSTAR. We were located in the apartment parking lot and 250 families walked or drove up to receive a food box, local produce, beverages and bread. It was extremely rewarding for me personally to actually see people in need, receiving something that would help them and their families. That’s the great thing about volunteering at the Food Bank; every program directly puts food into the mouths of hungry children and their families.  

What started out as something to keep me occupied during my lay off has become a life changing experience. No matter how bad we feel our situation is, helping others in need always helps us grow and appreciate what we have. There are so many people in need in our communities, towns and state, and we can’t expect the government to do it all. We need to get into our communities, rollup our sleeves and help those in need. We are called to be servants. Volunteering is a privilege, not an obligation. As I have found out, you never know when you may be placed in that same situation. For now, I cherish all the relationships that I have made at the Food Bank, the agencies, the families and the other volunteers. Hunger will never completely go away, but with the help of the Food Bank and its volunteers we are making a difference. I highly recommend to everybody to make a difference, whether it be volunteering at the Food Bank or making donations of food or money, it will be the most rewarding experience of your life. It has, for my family and me.