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About 20 Harrisburg University staff members recently volunteered with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to fill sorely needed food boxes for the less fortunate. Greta Ferkel, Managing Director of HU Online, called the experience “a new-found joy,” and she shared the following essay about her experience:

The Gift of the Food Bank

Earlier this week, we learned that our institution would continue its “remote work policy” through May 2021.  On that same day, I received an email about an opportunity to volunteer at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. I absolutely considered the ‘remote work policy’ an extension of a work environment that I managed to persist through since March 15, 2020. At first, the temporary nature of the Covid-19 precautions seemed tolerable and somewhat beneficial to productivity. Spring flew by with the challenges of moving every aspect of our educational offerings to a virtual environment.  This transition kept me busy problem solving, collaborating with others, and progressing on a trajectory that felt like a bridge across a troubling, invisible virus.

After the first extension, I marked time against the next announced end date of “remote work” and watched each light at the end of a tunnel close as “remote work” continued.  Fortunately, life threw in some additional activities to provide opportunities for gratitude; a surgery, purchase of a house, selling of a house, passing of a dear K-9, a new puppy, packing, moving, unpacking, new neighbors, new chores. Quickly, the summer months evaporated into a dry fall, void of much rain. Remote work continued. Sitting at the same desk in my house day after day on a bad chair thinking surely this will end by the start of the new year. A vaccine is on the way, the election is over, surely 2021 will bring with it my return to an office building and more importantly my colleagues. A walk about on TEAMs just is not that easy. Will I interrupt someone deep into a project who would just prefer to be left alone? Am I the only one feeling isolated and lacking the sense of community that comes from office noises, laughter, louder-than-appropriate voices, the extra bang of that women’s bathroom door and the secure click of the door lock when someone uses their badge to enter the office suite. I hear I am not the only one pining to go back to the office. For those that can go or stop by to pick up supplies, they describe an eerie experience because no one else is there, either. 

Without a clear idea of what volunteering at the food bank would involve, I signed up. Just knowing I would physically see my co-workers and others motivated me to participate. I marked off my Wednesday afternoon from 1- 4 and scheduled a pre-volunteer lunch with my friend. Central Pennsylvania Food Bank has existed for quite some time at the Corey Road location and just moved the packing operations to the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. We entered donning our masks and sat in chairs placed on a green “X” taped to the floor and spread out six feet apart from one another. Pallets and pallets of all types of food lined the giant hall waiting for assembly into 30 lb. boxed assortments to help those in need. Momentarily, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be hungry and not know from whom or where my next meal would come. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have a family to feed and no resources to provide breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I tried to imagine being unemployed during COVID-19 Lockdowns without any resources to provide for my family or loved ones. All this imagining made me more excited to volunteer, rather than to see my co-workers.

The food bank supervisor, who goes by the name, “Red,” asked  screening questions to which we had to give a thumbs up or thumbs down answer. I passed with all thumbs up. Next, we divided into two teams. I volunteered to run the jack, which is basically an electric pallet mover that could crush toes if mishandled. Each team had 10 members; one to make boxes, six loaders to fill each box with the food staged on pallets, one to tape up the filled box, one to load the pallet with 60 boxes, and me to move each finished pallet into a neat row.

Before we knew it, two hours had passed, and we had three completed pallets and devised some methods to make the assembly line more efficient and help one another. Eventually, I broke a sweat, cutting, lifting, loading, moving, and tossing empty boxes into bins for breakdown. I even got dizzy wrapping the pallet in cellophane. We were all ready for the 10-minute break and enjoyed some snacks and water. 

It felt good to work hard and the time passed quickly. After three hours, both teams made five new pallets and a total of more than 500 boxes of food were ready to go. Our team’s box included two boxes of cereal, one condiment like parmesan cheese or almond butter, a pint of milk, a jar of peanut butter, two cans of tuna, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, Mentos gum, assorted jellies, oatmeal, and chips. With smart rationing, this food could last for several weeks for an individual and feed a family for at least a week.  I think most of us wanted to continue when we were told we could stop for the day. We staged each station for the next crew of volunteers and cut open more boxes so they would be able to immediately fill them. After months of working in a singular, isolated environment, I thirsted for this opportunity. It delivered far more than I expected. It provided a sense of community and teamwork by coming together with known and unknown individuals to create a much-needed resource for others in our region. The physical nature of the effort reminded me that we all need to move a lot more, stand, bend, twist, and do something that makes us dizzy every so often. My friend and I signed up to do this every other week. I am reminded of the sense of accomplishment realized through giving to others. The joy I experienced surpassed many other experiences which I have chosen during this time of isolation from my family. Thank you to the organizer of this event and for calling all of us to give of ourselves to help others.

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