5.14.2008

commodities



every six weeks or so the alamosa foodbank receives a large shipment of commodities from the u.s. government. commodities consist mostly of canned goods as well as other food items. many of these items are far enough past their expiration date that grocery stores can't sell them but not so far past that they can't still be consumed. so the usda collects these left over goods, gives them to us to that we can put them together and give them out to individuals and families who need it.

last week a group of seventh and eighth graders from mackintosh academy in littleton, co came down to la puente for a service learning trip. i lead the group in all their activities and discussions (that's pretty much what my job is, in case you were wondering) and one of our biggest projects was to put together boxes of commodities for muck, our foodbank director, to give out this week. it was hard work but a lot of fun. here are some highlight photos:


i was on tomato juice duty, the first item on the assembly line.


the assembly line was a fast moving process. we had to get as many cans out of their original boxes as we could so that when a commodities box came down the line we were ready to fill it.


muck, our amazing foodbank director, handles the many empty cardboard boxes.


this long, hard, and mostly repetitive job requires that jams be playing nonstop. i brought my little radio from home so we could listen to some classic rock gems.

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