A Good Deed Done

One of the cool things about where I work is the staff events we hold throughout the year. I normally get to be a part of most of planning portion of the events and I think my dad wonders if I actually do any work. I do, trust we all do but we do take time to celebrate the holidays, the start of football season and everything else under the sun. We love to eat as well, so there are plenty of times when a few coworkers get together and plan a potluck of sorts. I think I like the breakfast ones the best.

This year we were given the opportunity to contribute money from our company as well as our time to a charity or nonprofit of our choice. Two were chosen and those that wanted to volunteer could do so, taking a portion of our workday to go offsite and volunteer. I went today, to put in my time and learned about a great organization in Nashville.

Second Harvest of Nashville is our local food bank, it services all of middle Tennessee, providing food supplies to organizations that help feed those who are in need. They also have a program that provides children who are free or reduced lunches food for the weekend, allowing the teachers to discretely place the food packages in their backpacks.

Our job today, after getting a tour of the place, was to sort food and box the food up. I was quite tired and very sweaty once we were done but it felt good to contribute to the city I call home. It was manual labor that didn’t require a lot of brain power and allowed each of us to unwind a bit after a hectic day.

At this time, I would love to be able to come up with a way that once a month, we could rotate a team through there to help, they always need help sorting and boxing. They also have set aside Fridays to allow anyone in the community to come there to eat by a former chef/local restaurant owner. The cost? Twelve bucks, all you can eat; a great deal and I have had this chef’s food, so I know it would be tasty and be worth the cost and it would actually go towards a good cause.

Not having money to donate to every good cause that comes through my mailbox or door makes me feel guilty but I think that giving up a few hours a month to sort and box sounds like a good replacement. Plus, it wore me out and I just might get a decent night’s sleep.