29 Oct 2014

[IB9 & IB10] A regular year together with Food Bank


Rimgailė Ruibytė & Haroldas Bagdonas -

Food Bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough food to avoid hunger. The action is being organized all over Lithuania with alternatives to donate not only food but also money. Food Bank and a sister action “Inviting guests” were two main events that IB students aimed to join in October.
„Inviting guests“ action‘s idea is to gather people and offer them treats in return for a donation which later on is sent to Food Bank. This event was held in Didzdvaris gymnasium, initiated by CAS coordinator Ligita Ivanauskaitė and organized by IB students. IB1s was preparing sweet treats for this event – we were baking cookies, while IB2s were preparing savory snacks and the venue. As IB1s we were separated into two groups which baked cookies after the lessons prior the event. This activity was very cheerful and fun, because some of the students were baking for the first time in their lifes. Furthermore, this activity brought us together, we needed a lot of cooperation if we wanted to make tasty cookies. After all the preparation, the event was held. Invitations have been spread to all students and teachers in the gymnasium.
A lot of teachers and students came and enjoyed the cookies and other snacks. During the event Edita Gumbaite, student of IB1, introduced everyone to the Food Bank action, its goals, history and methods. A few students from Didzdavris gymnasium were performing and made the event cozy and calm. The guests were also welcomed to participate in activities that involved creativity. The organizers chose to incorporate autumn together with the Food Bank action, hence to some extent it was a meaningful greeting for the autumn season as well.  For us, IB1 students, it was very pleasant to see that people were donating and eating our cookies, saying that cookies were delicious. There were some leftover cookies from the event, which were sold the next day during the breaks. A total amount of 310 Litas (around 100 EUR) was collected which later was transferred to Food Bank.
That same week, IB1s and IB2s continued their volunteering in grocery stores and collected the donated food for people that are living under a poverty line in Lithuania. While for the IB2s it was a third time participating in Food Bank activities, for the IB1s it was a first time having to volunteer for Food Bank. Comparing this time and previous there was not much of a change, yet again there was a timetable that divided us into a group of 3 people with each group having a specific time to volunteer. Then the groups themselves would assign each person a responsibility – mostly a combo of 2 people that would greet people and advertise the food bank while 1 person would be left to log the products that were donated. The groups also included a supervisor from Didzdvaris Gymnasium – usually a certain subject teacher. Since IB2s had previously participated in the event, some of the experiences and tips were shared to the IB1s in order to make their first time as successful as possible. This included the most basic tips such as reacting to various reactions or how to properly distribute the workflow. However, such feelings as anxiety or uncomfortability were something that IB1s had to overcome on their own, nevertheless the negative feelings faded away together with people inquiring about the Food Bank action. This experience kicked IB1s out of their comfort zones and turned out as a positive experience for them in the future. Hence, the first time for IB1s turned out to be a success as well as for IB2s. For IB2s having to participate in Food Bank for the third time is starting to become like a routine as well, because of the gained experience, it should be easier for the IB2s to volunteer or even organize Food Bank actions elsewhere after having graduated Siauliai Didzdvaris Gymnasium. Due to the success of IB1 and IB2 during the 2 days of Food Bank in Siauliai, over 1000 of food items were collected.
In conclusion, this action has helped the students to develop in many ways. IB1s gained more knowledge about the action itself as well as gaining experience that will help them in future CAS activities. However, most importantly we believe that this action helped IB1s and IB2s to create a stronger bond as fellow IB students in Didzdvaris Gymnasium, which in return should promote better teamwork and probably more collaborated events. Nonetheless, in the end after Food Bank activities every IB student felt happy and a little bit proud that one has done something that can could help other people.

Final preparations before the guests arrive.

Lovely guests putting out "Maisto Bankas"(English for "Food Bank") using autumn leaves


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