The Big Day (Day 6)

Julia with our new friend Ryan

Our day today was the big one, the one we have been working towards all week! On Thursday of each week, the church distributes the food from the food bank to 110 families. Everything we have done this week builds up to the work that was done today. It was a long one, and one where our team was working nonstop from the morning till about 6:30 this evening.

Reece and I started our day a little earlier than the rest of the team because we went with Gerard, Pastor Daniel, and Gill, another volunteer from the church, to pick up the weekly food items that the church purchases from the New Generation Mission that we visited on Tuesday. We left the church at 7 AM to get these items, which amounted to about 9 palates and the entire shipping truck full of food. The rest of the team remaining at the church began their morning around 8:30 with sorting the remaining food that was picked up at the farms yesterday.

          

Unloading the morning's pick-up

  

It took our delivery team a couple of hours to load the truck, and when we returned our team and the other church volunteers welcomed us and together we unloaded the truck and sorted all of the items. We took a break for lunch which was a huge family style meal of our team interspersed with the church volunteers, and it was a vibrant, jovial time. After lunch, the next two hours were focused on doing all of the final preparations necessary to distribute the food for the families.

            The food distribution lasted three hours (3-6), and it required our team and the church volunteers to set up various “pick-up” stations where the customers would come with their own bags and collect their food. To give you an idea of how much food they left with, it often took 4 or 5 large tote bags, as well as two boxes full of items, and at least 3 people to carry it all to the car. Our team worked non-stop restocking pick up locations, carrying bags to cars, speaking with customers (some with more difficulty than others because of the language barrier), cleaning working spaces, and moving large boxes of food throughout the facility. When the final family came by to pick up their food, we sat down for a well-deserved dinner and much needed rest.

Prepping for Pick Up Stations

            Our team is exhausted. They worked hard, being on their feet for the entire day stopping only for meals, working to lift heavy boxes and hauling bags. Altogether, we estimated that we moved about 3,500 pounds of food items today which benefited 110 families. Despite their exhaustion, they were amazed at how efficient the church volunteers are who do this work 50 weeks out of the year. When our team, or other teams from North Carolina are not here however, the number of workers in the food bank drops to about 10-15 people, so our team has great respect for their work. As Pastor Daniel shared with the team over dinner, the church puts in this much work because it is a means for contact with their community. The church tried many different things over the years to connect with the people of Chateauguay, and the idea of the food bank was a desperate attempt at first, but since has grown into a means far beyond anything they could imagine. They do this work with such energy and passion because they are doing it for the Lord. I know this left an impression on our team.

Delivering people's food to their cars

            But now, our work portion of the week is done. We will get some much-needed rest tonight, and I will treat them all to Tim Horton’s in just a bit to celebrate. Tomorrow we will go into the city of Montreal to visit for the day. Pastor Daniel will provide us with a tour as well as seeing various historical sites, along with doing other sightseeing, and I am sure there will be some shopping involved. It will give us a chance to experience Quebec in a different way. Montreal is one of the oldest cities in North America, and I am excited for them to take in its beauty.

It is hard to believe that our time here has come and gone. In two days time, we will be back in North Carolina. This has been a great experience for the students, and I am encouraged by the ways they have been challenged, and the growth I have seen in each of them. I also am thankful for the time I have been able to spend with them, developing relationships with each of them. I truly love sharing in these students’ lives, and am honored God has given me the privilege to serve as their minister.