My Experience as a Volunteer
“I like my frozen food organized a certain way,” is something I never thought I’d say. Volunteering at the Maize and Blue Cupboard (M&BC) has been a rewarding and enriching way to get involved with a great organization on campus. As an MDining Sustainability Intern, I have volunteered at the M&BC for the previous 8 months. The M&BC is located at the garden level of Betsy Barbour and is a community pantry where you can find various products including fruits, chicken, salmon, and fresh veggies as well as personal items. It was founded by students to be a resource for anyone who experiences food insecurity on campus or may have a difficult time getting off campus to grocery stores.
I first heard about the M&BC when a housemate recommended it to me after our freezer stopped working and we lost some of our food for the week. Then I learned that MDining is partnered with the Cupboard and I was excited to start working there. However, in the beginning, I didn’t know what I would be doing, what the space would look like or how a typical volunteering day would go. So I’m going to describe what to expect when you first volunteer at the M&BC, what a typical volunteering day looks like, and give you 5 tips to stock like a pro.
Organization of the Cupboard
When you first enter the M&BC you see a desk, front and center. Behind it, the space is split into two halves. The left half contains fruits and veggies in stands with the frozen meat, fruit, and fish in freezers against the back wall. The right half has shelves for beans, canned goods, and the fridges against the back wall have milk, cheese, and produce. There is a side room where personal items are located. Personal items include shampoo, conditioner, sanitary products, paper rolls, etc.
Typical Volunteering Day
On a typical volunteering day, you should arrive at 12:30 pm and the Program Manager, Jessica Thompson, will introduce herself and give the volunteers some of the background of the M&BC. After which, you will get a tour of the pantry to see where the food is located in each section and help organize the space before the Food Gatherers’ truck arrives. Food Gatherers is a local food pantry that provides food to the M&BC. Once it arrives, you will unload the food supplies from the truck and put the items in their respective areas. Then you will be assigned to an area to begin stocking. The order of priority for volunteering is to first unload the truck, stock the shelves (especially the frozen/refrigerated goods first) and then break down the boxes and take them to the recycling bin. When these tasks are finished, which usually takes about 2 hours, feel free to ask Jessica if she needs anything else completed and if not, volunteering is over!
5 Tips and Tricks
- Put the newest food at the back of the shelf to ensure everything is taken before the expiration date.
- If you unload the bread and dessert rack, put the products on the shelves and rearrange the items once they are all off of the cart.
- If a bag/box/can is open, we cannot put it on the shelves, it needs to be composted.
- Break down all the boxes, but the boxes with a waxy covering are NOT recyclable.
- It is mandatory to wear gloves if you are touching produce. Also, the Cupboard has winter gloves if you work in the freezer section so your fingers don’t get as cold as the frozen food.
The M&BC is a wonderful resource and can provide students a space to give back to the U of M community while learning about food insecurity on campus and connecting with new people. Did I convince you to volunteer? Sign up here!