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Alameda County Food Bank
Before I had the privilege to work in semiconductors and enterprise network computing, I held a couple of hourly jobs in back end distribution centers and warehouses in the Detroit area. These roles involved a fair bit of lifting and manual work, but they were really useful in helping to save some extra money for college. I remember that in one of those jobs, I had the lowest seniority, and it fell on me to head out to the parking lot twice per shift and be the Shopping Cart Retriever when the warehouse workload was low.
My recent experience hanging out and volunteering at the Alameda County Community Food Bank reminded me of those warehouse environments. The Food Bank is a cavernous but comfortable distribution center where there is no shortage of manual tasks that need volunteers. There was a fork lift here and there, but nothing too chaotic like I recalled from those earlier experiences. No ear protection was needed, and the work boots and gloves I’d brought weren’t really necessary.
Alameda County Community Food Bank is one of the Bay Area’s largest food banks. I spent a few hours away from security and platform engineering with a few of my teammates to pack produce so it could be redistributed in the community.
There were quite a few volunteers from elsewhere in the community, and it was wonderful to hear their stories and experiences.
The mission of the Food Bank:
to passionately pursue a hunger-free community, with a vision that no adult, child or senior in Alameda County worries where their next meal will come from.
Sign up for a volunteer shift. You’ll meet some great people and have a direct impact on the local community here in Alameda County. They are always looking for volunteers.