From My Eyes: A Day at the Diaper Pantry

By Sebastian Hochgesang
My name is Sebastian. I'm 10 years old and I go to Martin Elementary.  We have been volunteering at the Diaper Pantry since it first opened. My mom and I started volunteering about a year and a half ago.  In the beginning, it was a little bit hard, but eventually I got used to it.  It was nice to know other people in the community. And my mom and I usually go for a treat after we volunteer. Here are some of the things I help my mom with when we volunteer:
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• When we arrive, I put out the sign in the front for people to see so they know where to go. (Photos 1 and 2)
• I also put out the boxes from the big stack and help organize them by the door so my mom can distribute them to the clients.  We give clients diapers, wipes, bread, and female hygiene products.  (photos 3-5)
• I usually do temperature checks for the refrigerators and freezers.  Because of the food pantry that happens at Saturdays and we have to make sure that that refrigerators and freezers are staying at a good temperature for all the food. (Photo 6)
• Before we leave, I also do the inventory check.  We need to have an inventory check because if we are running low on supplies then the diaper pantry can request or buy more diapers. 
• Since we started volunteering, I just like getting to know all the people and being able to connect with the community in this way. Sometimes it feels sad that people need to come and get these types of basic things, but I think it's good to help people out and for people who don't have as much as us or others.

 
Note from Sebastian’s mom (Mindy).  Volunteering has been a meaningful and very tangible way for us as a family to create greater connections and serve our local community. We are always in need of more volunteers. For more information, please contact Mindy (mindyho@gmail.com) or Deirdre (deirdre@deirdre.com)

Photo 1: We are open every Sunday from 815-915. Clients are usually already lined up when we arrive to set up.

Photo 3: What it looks like when we arrive. All the boxes on the left and right are diapers to distribute!

• Photo 2: Though lots of our clients are regular and find out about the pantry through word of mouth, we put a sign on the street to help people find us.

Photo 4: I help my mom organize all the boxes by the front door to make it easier to distribute them to clients.

Photo 5: We give our clients diapers, wipes, bread, and female hygiene products. Often families will pick up for their extended family and neighbors so we organize the materials in boxes to distribute.

Photo 6: There are 4-5 freezers and refrigerators that we check the temperatures for. Brrr, they are cold!

Photo 7: To wrap up our shift, we count the number of remaining boxes so my mom knows how many to order for the next shift.