Martha’s Table Pt-1

Evening everyone!

I was lucky enough to volunteer at Martha’s Table (The most often confused of the DC homelessness/hunger organizations) had a very interesting experience. I plan on volunteer across the organization in various ways and will be writing about my experiences.

Full disclaimer- I know that the volunteering experience is only a small part of an organization. Speaking from experience, volunteers can be both burden and blessing so I very much appreciated being able to volunteer at such a storied organization on short notice.

Martha’s Table is a local organization that strives to support stronger children, families, and communities with four key programs: Healthy Start, Healthy Eating, Healthy Connections, and Emergency Support Services. With a 35 year history, the organization has done a great deal of good for the DC and surrounding community.

As a former chef, I felt the most natural place for me to start volunteering was in the Health Eating- AM shift. After arriving, I was briefly introduced to the mission and vision of Martha’s Table and quickly put to work chopping a 50lb bag of onions. It was different from what I expected. There was minimal interaction with Chef Flo, and the volunteers were set up in the dining room, outside of the kitchen, with a singular task. I wasn’t sure how the ingredients the volunteers were prepping were going to be incorporated into the evening meal or on McKenna’s wagon.

From what I was able to glean from the dining room, the quality of the meals seems very high. There was a plethora of fresh vegetables and delectable smells coming from the stoves and the kitchen was clean, professional, and organized!

Overall I was impressed with the kitchen program but wished there was a bit more of a connection between the prep work and the meal.

Next week, I’ll be volunteering across the other aspects of the organization both in McKenna’s Wagon and the thrift store!

How to fight hunger?

Good evening everyone. I will be updating this blog periodically with my experiences volunteering at and learning from various hunger relief organizations around DC and around the nation. Hopefully, I can glean (That’s for you Hagel) an understanding of the different ways non-profit and for-profit organizations are combating hunger.

I figure the best way is to volunteer multiple times at the various organizations, meet with key staff, and understand the vision and the process of how the organization is combating hunger. The goal is self-learning. Exposing myself to various different models should help me understand the pros and cons of each.

As always, the content will include a bevy of curses, memes, gifs, and hilarious grammatical mistakes. If you have suggestions for where I should go and better if you know people at these organizations please let me know!