Random Acts of Volunteering from Seattle

Sometimes you have a moment that makes you stop and pause. I had one of those moments when a one-day visiting volunteer from Seattle sent me a blog he wrote shortly after his visit.

It started about a month ago when I received an email from a Mr. Davis Patterson. He explained to me that he wanted to start volunteering at various locations he visited as he traveled for his job. I thought it was a unique and interesting idea so I contacted our Assistant Program Director Aaron Ballet and asked if he could accommodate him for one day in our St. Stephens Pantry. Aaron liked the idea as well and was more than happy to do so. A few more exchanges of emails later and Davis was all good to go. I didn't think to much more about it, as it was about a month out and I had many other volunteers and activities going across my desk.

The day came for Davis to arrive, and I had written his arrival on my calender, so I took my camera and decided to head down to the pantry to say "Hi' and see how things were going. Davis turned out, as with almost all of our volunteers, to be a delightful and very energetic individual, eager to do everything he could during his three hours of work in the pantry. We were short handed that morning, so I kinda jumped in and got a bit of a crash course myself. It is one thing to give tours of the pantry, but it is another thing entirely to dig in and do the work!

Eventually it was time for Davis to run out the door, and run out the door he did. But only because he waited till the last minute and was running late for his train! I managed to grab a few photos of him out in front of the church and in the pantry, but he had to rush outside to ask his shuttle to please wait while he went back in to grab his luggage. Then after a few quick good byes, out the door he ran again.

Back to my office and on my with regular duties. A few days later Davis emailed me a blog, that he decided to start, because he said he was inspired after seeing this one. I was absolutely humbled after reading what he wrote while on the train to DC about his experience with us at the St. Stephens Pantry.

I know that we touch the lives of our recipients everyday. But to know that we touch the lives of our volunteers is pretty amazing. And it something that we often do not hear and certainly almost never read about. It is heartwarming to know that folks are having good experiences, albeit different ones, on both sides of the fence.  It is all about love and respect for each other.

So please go read Davis Patterson's blog Random Acts of Volunteering. He choose us as his first location to road test this on, and will be doing more. Be sure to sign up for future posts. I have no doubt he will have good stories to share with us all!

Thank You Davis!!!