Service-Learning in Action at the San Antonio Food Bank

These are only 2 out of 20 banana boxes that we packed with food and love. We averaged 52 lb boxes, which will feed about 80 people for a week.


Here we are (the ACCD Oaxaca Summer Service-Learning group, except for Melissa--we missed you!) along with Blake Bishop, the volunteer coordinator at the San Antonio Food Bank. I want to thank Blake making our visit a fun and insightful experience.

This is my favorite shot out of the 50 photos I took on our field trip. The bold, "sunshine" color gives me a warm and happy feeling. Just as I felt while filling the boxes with food for my fellow neighbors.

Here you see Gail and Jewelette listening carefully and taking mental note of how to select and place the items to make a perfect box. We were taught to examine the canned goods by placing our thumbs on either side of the can and listen/feel for bulging/pop-ups (indicating a bad product). We also had to look out for extremely dented cans and food that was out of date.

(Foreground, L-R) Jewelette, Brendan and Alex get down and dirty while digging for nutritious items in the large food-filled bins. Brendan actually found an item that was about 20 years out-dated. Also in this photo you can see (background, L-R) myself, Gail, Giselle (behind Alex) and Mel carefully arranging the items in the boxes to fit as much as possible. One of the boxes I filled weighed 54.88 lbs, which met the goal Blake set for us of 55 lbs per box.