At Children’s Hunger Fund, we love the month of April. Not because the weather is starting to warm up and the hills are covered in wildflowers from the recent rains, but because April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we love any opportunity to celebrate our volunteers.
Last April, we shared quotes from some of our volunteers about why they volunteer. This year, we’re sharing more!
- Volunteering teaches perseverance. “The role I was assigned was making the actual Food Paks. It sounds easy, but I had so much trouble folding these boxes that I had to ask for assistance. Fortunately, I was with kind people that offered all the assistance I needed to make this box. It took me some time to successfully learn how to do this, but in the end, it was all worth it. At first, my weakness was creating boxes, but in the end, it turned out to be one of my strengths. I developed skills in making boxes and thankfully I wasn’t slowing any of the processes. I was very happy with my accomplishment.” Elementary student from Beacon Hill Classical Academy
- You know you are a part of something bigger. “The larger ministry of CHF is a big reason why we come because we strongly believe in their purpose of partnering with local churches to spread the gospel here in the United States and around the world. So while we’re not directly doing that, we know that our support of the ministry is important in keeping up good relationships with the donors who are making the ministry here possible. So, we love to play a small role in making that happen.” Glenna Anderson
- You’re helping to change lives. “I volunteer at Children’s Hunger Fund because I believe in the mission. I believe that in order to truly change lives, you have to build relationships with people. And that’s what this is, this place is all about—this is what they do. They not only just check the box and give people food. They want to get to know the people. They want to know their hearts. They want to know how they’re doing. They want to make sure that they feel supported, they feel encouraged. Not only are they feeding people, but they are loving people. And I believe in that.” Sarah Kates
- No volunteer is too young… “[Piper’s] been coming since she was four months old, so she didn’t really do much at the start, but now it’s like seeing her grow up and actually helping. She helps put the mail in the mailbox, and clean up stuff—she even did some vacuuming last week. So, it’s really cool to be able to do that with her and also get to see the joy on her face.” Hannah Anderson
- … and no volunteer is too old. “Now I know why God has given me a long life—to do God’s work by helping here at Children’s Hunger Fund.” Jane Kuda
- You can turn your gratitude into service. “The Lord’s given me so many blessings in my own life, and it’s really a blessing to be able to take what He’s given me and be able to bring that to someone who doesn’t have that right now.” Brandon
- Volunteering teaches collaboration. “I usually don’t talk to people that much, especially people I don’t know, but in this experience of volunteering, I was able to converse with people while working. We were having conversations, helped each other if needed, and even collaborated to work efficiently. I actually conversed with a lot of people that were helping with the food packaging and managing this stuff. We were all working together as one team. An introvert like myself never thought that this was possible to do. Everyone (students and adults) from different areas were so friendly and caring.” Elementary student from Beacon Hill Classical Academy
