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We soon learned that the truck was an hour late in coming, so we asked if we could help when it arrives. Yes, for sure, we can use all who want to help. The earlier volunteers had prepared the sorting area by staging the 90 sets of baskets in rows in the middle of the room. Labels had been placed along the side of the building for sorting the boxes as they were brought from the truck.
The food is staged in the sorting area and prepared for distribution to the 90 awaiting sets of baskets. The exact number of each type of fruit or vegetable is not known until it has all been unloaded and stacked in the sorting area. The coordinator then determines how many of each type of fruit or vegetable is to be put in each basket.
The standard amount is one unit consisting of a basket of fruit and a basket of vegetables. Other items can be purchased as extra items at the time of placing the requests (the Monday prior to the Saturday delivery).
The boxes of fruits and vegetables were then distributed to the sets of baskets. This required some hand sorting such as bagging up the peppers, and breaking the banana bunches into equal quantities. With each basket full and all the produce divided equally, the participants of this coop were allowed to come and take their items. This required them to show their receipt to the volunteers.
After all baskets were picked up, the volunteers cleaned up the area, packed up the empty baskets, folded the tables, removed produce labels from the wall, and crushed and flattened all the remaining boxes and took them to the recycle bin around the back of the building. The Bountiful Baskets sign was moved from the front of the building and the day was completed. It was about 2 pm. A bit of work for the volunteers, and a little bit more work for the coordinators, but a lot of fun and the fresh produce received made it well worth it.
For more information about the program and how to participate, go to their website at www.bountifulbaskets.org.
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