U-Haul Team Members volunteered part of their Saturday on July 23 to longtime charity partner St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix, assisting community members struggling with poverty and homelessness by serving them food.
The morning begins with Theresa Jones, SVdP dining room coordinator, assigning tasks to U-Haul volunteers in preparation for the meal. Some volunteers set up the dining room with chairs. Others fill water pitchers and arrange bagged chips that would be served with the meal.
Making an Impact
The Human Services Campus Dining Room at 1075 W. Jackson St. in Phoenix serves meals every day of the week. With one of the largest industrial kitchens in the Southwest U.S. and five dining rooms, St. Vincent de Paul is able to serve over 1.2 million meals to hungry families and individuals each year.
“Volunteering is important to me because I feel it’s my obligation to give back to my community,” explained George Robb, a U-Haul Team Member and volunteer. “I also feel it’s important to give support to those less fortunate. It makes me appreciate the things I’ve been blessed with.”
Food is Served
The dining room opens at 11 a.m. as U-Haul volunteers greet guests and direct them to the lunch line. Volunteers serve fried chicken, salad, bagged chips and rolls. Dessert follows the meal.
During lunch, volunteers replace empty water pitchers and clean up after guests finish.
After everyone receives a meal, guests are welcome to line up for more food. Volunteers serve food for two hours and feed more than 200 guests.
As the guests leave, U-Haul volunteers shift their focus to cleaning. The group disperses and works on sanitizing the tables and floors, as well as the washing the dishes. Team Members will leave SVdP as clean as it was prior to serving the meal.
Longtime Partners
U-Haul has been supporting the efforts of SVdP for more than 20 years through its volunteer programs; donation events; providing in-kind support; and financial contributions.
“We run off volunteers,” Jones said. “The more volunteers we have, the more clients we can serve. It’s as simple as that.”
Reputable organizations like SVdP offer U-Haul Team Members an effective way to give back to their community. In return, partner companies like U-Haul make it possible for SVdP’s works and contributions to reach more people. U-Haul and SVdP focus their charitable efforts on helping people meet their most basic human needs.
Thanks to U-Haul volunteers Kat Miles, George Robb, Robin McGilvra, Kelie Hale, Allyson Hale, Courtney Neyra and Andrea Batchelor.
Click here to read about our last volunteer event.
