[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I decided to move to America to be next to my husband, one of my priorities was to get involved in many activities ASAP.  That is when I thought of volunteering for community services, and found out that, fortunately, the Bay Area provides a lot of possibilities and organizations specialized in this matter. So when Yvonne Lefort posted on Facebook about a community service opportunity at the Alameda County Food Bank, I did not think about it twice and decided to participate.

The Alameda County Community Food Bank distributes food to thousands of people through nonprofits agencies. Our task was to prepare the vegetables for their distribution. 

Together with other spouses of the “Creating a Fulfilling life in America” program and Yvonne, we met at downtown Berkeley to head towards the food bank in Oakland. I think we all were very excited about this experience.

When we arrived at the location, the first thing we observed was a huge warehouse with aisles of fresh fruit, veggies and non-perishable food. Given the large amount of food in this place, we realized the hard work that the volunteers were doing in this place and that some help was needed.  The work environment was really nice, the people were very friendly, and they also played good music, so everybody was in good mood while working.

The community service is a very rewarding experience because we didn’t just help the needy people, but also we had a good time meeting the volunteers of this organization that provides nutritious food and nutrition education to the people in need. The work of these people is just admirable. I hope to come back sometime soon. 

Claudia