My Nonprofit Reviews

Minnie's Food Pantry is a nonprofit organization that helps people that can’t afford food. It was founded on April 1,2008, by Dr. Cheryl Jackson. When I walked in the the first thing I saw was the red carpet leading us to the front desk. I wondered why there is a red carpet in a food pantry. Later during the orientation I learned that the red carpet was there so that the people that walk in there feel special. At first I thought the name Minnie was the founder's name. Minnie was Cheryl’s mother’s name. When her father died she wanted the world to know her name, so she started Minnie’s Food Pantry. During Cheryl’s life she had a hard time providing food for her family. She applied for food stamps but had a little too much money. She found a job that helped get enough money to do what she needed to do. Minnie’s Food Pantry receives no government support and is 100% community funded. They have been featured on: The Food Network’s documentary, Hunger Hits Home, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, The Talk and The Steve Harvey Show, amongst others.
I had a good time volunteering there. Since I wasn't older than 13 I couldn't do the things the older people were doing. Instead I decorated paper bags for children my age and younger, who don’t have that much food. On the bags we wrote bible verses, prayers, “Have a Great Day!”, and we drew many things. After that we filled the bags with milk, granola bars, fruit snacks, and crackers. Then we filled “Day Labor Bags.” Day Labor Bags are bags with premade food in them. They are for people who work but don’t get paid. In them we put water, juice, mac & cheese, canned sausages, crackers, granola bars, and fruit snacks. I wondered how they were going to eat the mac & cheese. Then they told me the people can just walk up to the nearest 7 Eleven to get hot water. Then we cleaned the whole place by sweeping the floors, picking up trash, mopping the floors, wiping the tables and the chairs, and rearranging everything to make the place look nice.
This was a very nice opportunity. When I was there, there were people who volunteer there every week! This was my first time volunteering there but probably not my last time. It made me realize how lucky I am to have food on my table everyday. These people they are serving don’t have anything. I think it’s nice for people to spend their time helping the least fortunate. The work of mercy I chose was feed the hungry. I chose this because I wanted to help those who are less fortunate then I am. I didn’t see any hungry people when I was there, but some of the other volunteer’s did. I had a really nice time there, and everybody was so nice. Everyone there had such a big heart, devoting their time for those in need. On Saturday mornings I spend my time on my phone this time I actually did something to help people. I really do recommend volunteering at Minnie’s Food Pantry.