NAAAP Boston Brings Together Passionate Community Service Volunteers at Community Servings
On Saturday, June 18, NAAAP Boston’s Community Service Committee gathered members and friends for an opportunity to help individuals and families with critical and chronic illnesses. Twenty NAAAP volunteers took time off their busy schedules to join the Community Servings staff and other volunteers at the Community Servings site in Jamaica Plain. Community Servings is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing food and nutrition services to the critical and chronically ill.
NAAAP volunteers were greeted with a delicious breakfast provided by the Community Servings staff, thanking the volunteers for arriving. While volunteers ate and talked, they learned about the plan for the day’s activities and kitchen guidelines. Splitting into smaller groups, the volunteers entered the kitchen. A large and active kitchen, the volunteers continued their conversations while peeling potatoes, cutting vegetables and fruits, and packaging pastas and jell-o deserts.
Volunteers took a nice break from the active food preparation work for an exciting lunch. In addition to the tasty meal, veteran volunteers and Community Servings staff had a special celebration for two volunteers who had just graduated high school! Cake, ice cream and cupcakes were wheeled into the common area, where the elated graduates were presented with gifts. The graduates talked about how much of an impact volunteering at Community Servings made in their lives. From the caring and close staff they worked with, to the opportunity to help the critical and chronically ill, the graduates spoke volumes about their experience. The mothers of the graduates, who also volunteer, also spoke, and tried hard to put into words how proud they are of their children. During the celebration, NAAAP volunteers learned more about Community Servings from the staff and had an opportunity to present their own motivations for volunteering.
After lunch, the volunteers went right back to work on food preparation. The day concluded with volunteers gathering once again in the common area. The Community Servings staff continued with their treats providing a delicious variation on the Crab Rangoon. A talented Community Servings chef prepared the treat, a buttery and more gourmet tasting variation on the popular Chinese appetizer. Several NAAAP volunteers continued their fun NAAAP activities, joining the NAAAP Networking Committee’s Harpoon Brewery tour after-party at Atlantic Beer Garden.
NAAAP volunteers had more than a lot to say about how fulfilling it was to volunteer at Community Servings. While the Community Service Committee plans to make Community Servings an annual event, it is encouraged to take it upon yourself to continue to volunteer. Please visit the Community Servings website for information on volunteering and donating. The Community Service Committee will continue to be available for information on community service opportunities and hopes you will attend its next event!
