This morning, I decided to make a trek to Cambridge. No, I wasn’t meeting up with friends to have brunch at Au Bon Pain. I wanted to learn more about a volunteer service called “Dollar-a-Bag,” where evidently you could purchase food products for a grand total of $1! I had read about this program in the website www.FairFoods.org. In fact, I have informed some of my economically struggling clients about the program and encouraged them to try it out at one of the many locations in the Boston area. However, having never used this service, I was a bit skeptical. So I figured that I ought to test it myself, if only to provide feedback to my clients.
The location was the basement of St. Paul’s Church in the Harvard Square area. I was greeted by a woman in a wheelchair, who handed me a raffle ticket and suggested that I have a seat in the pews until my number was called. I looked around me to find all sorts of people waiting- young and old, male and female, white and non-white, students and retired people. On an elevated floor, presumably where a pastor would preach during Sunday service, stood tables full of breads, pastries, and a limited assortment of fruits and vegetables.
Beginning at 11AM, a gentleman announced our numbers one by one, and we walked around the tables to pick up our grocery items. When my number was called, I walked first to the bread station, where a kind young man said that I could choose 1 dessert and 1 bread product. As I walked around the tables, an older gentleman said that I could get 2 boxes of pasta and 1 can of tuna. Then it was on to the produce section- 2 potatoes, 1 apple, 1 head of lettuce, 1 bag of grapes, 1 stock of celery. In the pantry room, I was offered 1 box of cereal and 1 other pantry item. (I chose the Prego sauce.)
Every time I placed an item in my bag, a mix of emotions ran through me. Sometimes, I felt awkward because I wasn’t sure if I had any real business being there. Other moments, my rational side would tell me that I was “scoring” a bag of groceries for a mere $1. But as I became friendly with other patrons, some of whom have been coming to this place for years, I soon realized that all of us could use a little bit of help. I felt grateful for the people who volunteered their time and for the grocery stores that donated their excess food. I felt proud of the patrons, who took the initiative to avail of this service and displayed their gratitude to the volunteers.
This experience lasted my entire morning. But it is an experience that helped me reflect on the work that I do as a financial counselor. I provide advice and hope to those in financial distress, and now I just received a truly wonderful gift at the church. It’s like I’m a part of an interconnected web of relationships where people simultaneously give and receive from one another. Perhaps this is the definition of harmony.
Isaias Sarmiento
© 2010
