This fall season, consider giving back to your community.
By Ashley Gonzalez
For most, Thanksgiving is considered to be a day when we dress up to eat a feast with our family, we think of turkeys or mashed potatoes, but we don’t typically think of all of those people who aren’t able to provide these experiences to their own families. Being able to celebrate Thanksgiving in the “traditional way” is a privilege, and it would largely benefit our community if more people were able to recognize this privilege and put in the effort to fight against it.
Volunteering
It is beneficial to our community to volunteer at all times of the year, but it is especially valuable to volunteer during a season when people tend to focus solely on how their families will celebrate. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own celebrations and entirely forget those who don’t have the luxury of doing the same. If one is told to think of ways to help those who may be going through difficult times, they may think of volunteering as their first option, and it’s definitely a great place to start.
It may seem like an easy task to help give back to their community, but many may find that it can be an overwhelming task to try to choose a location in which they will volunteer their time. Volunteering can be a great option, but there are so many locations and opportunities where people are able to donate their time and efforts and it can be difficult to decide where to start, especially for those who have never volunteered in these environments and aren’t familiar with the differences in their options.
Volunteering Opportunities and Options
If students take a moment to search online, they should be able to find many locations where they could gift their time. It’s important to note that there are many options that are open for volunteers, and there are so many more opportunities that extend past the typical action of helping to distribute food on-site.
There are programs that work to deliver food to the elderly and those households that are unable to physically visit these organizations, there are also opportunities to take on leadership roles within these organizations. There are so many unique opportunities to become involved in giving back, it’s possible to even participate in collecting, or “gleaning”, excess food that would otherwise go to waste.
Donating
If you find that you don’t necessarily have the extra time to spare to be able to volunteer, you still have options to be able to give back to your community. Many of the previously mentioned organizations are able to benefit from donations. One of the most common and accessible ways to donate is through food drives, especially canned food drives.
When donating food, it’s important to recognize how not all donations are acceptable. Clearing out your kitchen of cans that you may not need is a great start to donating, but it’s also important to remember that there should be a start to what you collect. Donating should never serve as a means to be able to rid yourself of the old food that you don’t want. Unfortunately, many places that accept donations are used to receiving donations that don’t meet their standards to be distributed or utilized.
Yes, donating is important, but donating your severely dented cans or cans that may be well past their expiration date isn’t the helpful aid that you may think that it is. However good your intentions may be, it’s important to remember that your donations are ultimately meant to benefit real members of your community. Please remember that people who utilize these resources are just as entitled to receive safe and nutritious food as you are.
If you are unable to donate physical food but still wish to contribute to those facing food insecurity, consider making a cash donation to your local organization, funds can be just as important to keep these organizations open to the community.
Awareness
As students of San Bernardino Valley College, we have a unique understanding of what both privilege and poverty look like. Not only the Inland Empire but also San Bernardino as a whole are undeniably suffering from the consequences of poverty, and this is something that likely all students are able to recognize.
As a result of financial difficulties, food insecurity is a rising concern that many families in our community are facing in their day-to-day lives, and these burdens definitely aren’t alleviated during this holiday season. Unfortunately, there are many families who don’t consistently have access to a sustainable amount of food on a daily basis. These organizations are critically important because they work to combat this disparaging food crisis.
Use Your Resources
Unfortunately, there is still a significant amount of stigma surrounding food banks, community pantries, soup kitchens, and similar resources. There should be no shame in exercising your ability to use your options, these resources are put in place for a reason and they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t necessary. Volunteering and donating are ultimately fruitless efforts if people don’t take advantage of these resources. If you feel that reaching out to any of these organizations could help ease your burden this holiday season, then don’t hesitate to do so.
It might also be beneficial to look into the resources that SBVC provides, we have our own food pantry that is located on campus and doesn’t require appointments. It can be found on the left side of the library on the corner of Mount Vernon and Grant, and it is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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