The agency I did all my volunteering at during this semester was the Hunger Task Force in Milwaukee. The mission statement of the company is, “Hunger Task Force believes that every person has a right to adequate food obtained with dignity. We work to prevent hunger and malnutrition by providing food to people in need today and by promoting social policies to achieve a hunger-free community tomorrow.” Hunger task force is a local nonprofit organization that prides itself on being free and local to the community. The agency itself is run by a board of directors that is headed by President Mike Zeka. Considering the agency is a food bank the primary funding sources for the agency are donations and contributions that are collected by the agency and distributed to those who need it in the local community. The main function of the agency is to be free local and be able to provide the adequate amount of food that is required to live a healthy lifestyle to those who need it the most.
The main services that are offered include programs that involve hunger and the health of everyone. These programs include things such as, Food for Families. Stamp Out Hunger. and Touchdowns for Charity. These services help provide sources of food for those who are in need. The primary population that is served is the public that live in the Milwaukee area and are in the need of these services, People who are either not receiving the correct amount of healthy food or do not and cannot attain the correct amount of food. Some characteristics of those who receive the food are those who need the food in an emergency. those who do not have the right amount of funding to attain adequate food supply and those seniors and families that are also in need of food and assistance. Most of the clients served are going hungry and have reported to have eaten less on one or more days in two weeks. A lot of the clients that use the services are unemployed and cannot find the sources for food.
Not only are they unemployed but some clients are also disabled and are unable to work and attain a consistent pay, Most of the clients have stated that the food they receive last them for a week or a little bit longer. The clients also believe that fresh food is very important to have in their lives. In total more than 85% of people who use the services provided feel the pantry is clean and 88% feel safe when visiting the food banks. There is no specific number on how many people the services help but they are approximated to be in the thousands because everyone who is in need in the local and surrounding areas can use the services. There aren’t any specified guidelines to be eligible for the services they just must need the services. The services are free to the clients and require no payment options. The length ofthe services is based on how much they require the services and need the food.
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The Staff contains many volunteers as well as workers who generally have experience working in the social services field however no licenses are needed to work for the agency. I believe the agency is doing its job very well and creates a safe environment for all the workers and the clients who use the services. Most of my time working was helping with donations and people who need supplies for their food drives. As an example. when someone is dropping off the donations they have received we put them on the scale and record the weights as well as sort the products that were donated into separate bins such as cans and dry goods. We also gave people the giant boxes that collected the food and the posters they put up to advertise the food drives the people are running. I learned that a great amount of people believe food is a necessaw need for everyone. While volunteering I witnessed a wide variety of people donating and assisting in helping the cause and I thought that was wonderful to see so many people caring about their community.
I believe the work I did was a great service to the agency. Not only was I able to give a hand in collecting food but I was also able to help sort the foods gathered from farms such as eggs. I believe all the work the other volunteers and I put in are a great service to the agency and the community. One thing I didn’t enjoy was when no cars were dropping anything off and the nights slowed down and there was not a lot of work to be done so we could not really do much. I enjoyed working with the different volunteers and helping people either start their food drives or by collecting the food they are dropping off. I believe they could use many stations that bring food to areas around the community and events.
Not just collecting food but being able to present it to those who need it at events and services offered. One specific experience I had during my time volunteering was a Saturday afternoon where we put in a lot of work sorting eggs that were just received from a farm. We spent two hours sorting the eggs into separate cartons that were dozens. In the end we completed a full pallet of eggs in dozen sized cartons. This opened my eyes and made me think that if the we were not doing this than who would sort these products and how would they be dispersed to those people who need it. It showed that the work we were doing is a very positive and enjoyed service to the agency.
Chapter two of the book we discussed in class talks about poverty and its major impact on the community and society. This parallels with the agency greatly because the agency helps a lot of people including those who are considered in poverty. Poverty is determined by the level of income that the government considers sufficient to meet the basic requirements such as food and clothing When people are lacking the necessities such as food, they turn to food banks and those who help donate things of need. This is something these people need, and the Hunger Task Force is great at supplying these food sources to many of the people who are in need. We also talked about the deserving poor being those who are not able to be self-supporting.
This includes those who are aged and those who have mental conditions which is a demographic that is served by the hunger task force. Not only do they serve the poverty and homeless they also serve those who are unable to work for themselves and cannot receive a consistent level of pay to provide for the necessities they require. Not only were they major parts of our class this semester but they are also a big demographic that uses the services the Hunger Task Force offers, and I believe this is a great thing for the local community. Not only can this improve the community it can save lives and create a better future for everybody that is involved.
