Keep Calm and Fight Hunger

Historically, the week before Thanksgiving is the busiest of the year for our food pantry. Combined with the growing need and fears of yet another government shutdown, it will likely be the busiest week in our organization’s history. Record-high attendance last week attests to this.

High demand and even higher stress levels add to the difficulty of maintaining a space that feels welcoming, abundant, and respectful. Such high numbers deplete our food supplies and adds to the stress felt by staff and volunteers alike while fostering fears of scarcity in our shoppers. Yet it is still possible to ensure that everyone feels welcome, seen and nourished despite the chaos.

Here’s how other organizations can replicate this success.

How do we maintain an attitude of abundance in a high stress environment?

• We encourage our clients to take as much as they want of as many items as they can. At the beginning of every day, we’ll ensure our shelves are filled to bursting with canned goods and pay special attention to items that feature in holiday dishes like canned pumpkin, green beans, and cream of mushroom soup. It is more work to keep the shelves full, but pays off in the relief we can see in our clients’ faces as they wheel full shopping carts out the door. It can also help make up for the essential ingredients we generally don’t have- like evaporated milk, sugar or flour.

• We are excited and enthusiastic to welcome new clients. As soon as they walk in the door, they are greeted with “I’m so glad you made it in today! We’re excited to help you out!” This makes a huge difference in ensuring people feel welcome, even after waiting in a long line outside in the cold. We’ve created a specific volunteer role dedicated to providing a welcome and orientation for first-time shoppers, which both improves flow and gives our new shoppers confidence that we are truly pleased to welcome them.

• I make sure my team feels appreciated. We’re working harder than anyone else I know, and at the end of the day it’s easy to see the fatigue in everyone’s faces. It’s essential that anti-hunger advocates celebrate and highlight our individual contributions. Too often, nonprofit organizations take for granted the enormous burdens that their staff shoulder in order to foster success, which is an easy way to burn out your best people.

Hunger is a systemic problem and can’t be solved just by offering food to those who need it, but at the same time, hundreds of families will enjoy a bountiful holiday dinner thanks to the efforts of food pantries across the country. By making simple adjustments in how we display food, treat our clients, and appreciate our contributions, we make enormous progress in building more effective, dignified, and welcoming emergency food assistance programs.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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