Help yourself Jeffrey Wang is currently a student at Los Altos High School and Freestyle Academy in Mountain View, CA. He is interested in urban photography and film. He once said “If life is hard on you, then beat it�. With his optimistic attitude, he believes one day he will make the world a better place.
Help other
Published and Written By Yujie Wang 2014 spring
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For this assisment. I would like to thank to everyone in freestyle staffs and SVDP who gave me a chance to creat this cool documentary project which makes me more confident on my future art carrier. -Jeff wang
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ABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
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INTRODUCTION
8-10
CHAPTER 1
11-14
CHAPTER 2
15-20
CHAPTER 3
20-24
WORK CITED
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FOREWORD Saint Vincent De Paul food closet is the place I volunteer on weekly base. However, before I started this project, I always thought people only come here for the food. Throughout my project, I realized that people have made friends in this place and SVDP is meaningful place where it changed lots people’s lives. During my one of my interview day, I was not aware that most of videos contained a baby crying, which caused problematic background noise. However, after the rough cut, I realized the baby noise represented my theme that people need help. It added more emotion and empathy throughout my whole film, which was the happy accident. After I completed my research. I understood that our society is not only based on money, power, and fame. There are a lot of people who have open hearts in this world and are willing to spread their time to help others. This made us separate from animals and also keeps our society thriving.
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INYTODUCTION
A food bank is a non-profit organization that distributes food for people who have difficulties purchasing their food resources and avoiding hunger in the world. According to sociology professor Janet Poppendieck, hunger within the US was widely considered to be a solved problem until the mid 1690s. During this period of time, a lot of states had ended the food distribution which was supported by federal food surpluses; they removed their food stamp programs, which were allowing people to choose what they want, or they were adding minimum charges on food they wanted to purchase, which some people could not af-
ford back then (Poppendieck). In 1965, a priest named Van Hengal found out that grocery stores often had to throw away food that wasn’t in a perfect condition to sell in the market. Soon thereafter he started collecting that food and organizing it in a location where people could easily access it, which led to the world’s first food bank: St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Arizona. Due to the amount of people in America needed help from others, food banks started to spread to the whole country in 1980s (Van Hengal). Nowadays, food banks usually act as the food storage distribution depot and they usually give out food to the food pantries
or food closet. Vincent de Paul was a priest of the catholic church who spend most of his life to serving the poor. De Paul was renowned for his compassion, humility, and generosity. SVDP food closet is dedicated to keeping his spirit alive in the world. SVDP and Second Harvest Food Bank are a partnership and aim for the same goal to solve the hunger problem. “Annually SVDP distributes over 435,000 pounds of food it receives from Second Harvest Food Bank to hungry families and individuals” (SHFB).
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Chapter 1 A food bank is a non-profit organization that distributes food for people who have difficulties purchasing their food resources and avoiding hunger in the world. According to sociology professor Janet Poppendieck, hunger within the US was widely considered to be a solved problem until the mid 1690s. During this period of time, a lot of states had ended the food distribution which was supported by federal food surpluses; they
removed their food stamp programs, which were allowing people to choose what they want, or they were adding minimum charges on food they wanted to purchase, which some people could not afford back then (Poppendieck). In 1965, a priest named Van Hengal found out that grocery stores often had to throw away food that wasn’t in a perfect condition to sell in the market. Soon thereafter he started collecting that food and orga-
nizing it in a location where people could easily access it, which led to the world’s first food bank: St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Arizona. Due to the amount of people in America needed help from others, food banks started to spread to the whole country in 1980s (Van Hengal). Nowadays, food banks usually act as the food storage distribution depot and they usually give out food to the food pantries or food closet.
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It is laid down in our Rule, and it has been always understood among us, that in uniting to serve our masters the poor, as St. Vincent de Paul expresses it, our object is not
only to relieve material misery, a very laudable purpose in itself, but to aspire, especially, through the practice of that most sublime of virtues “charity” to render ourselves better and more fervent Christians, and to make our poor enter on the same path, if we have the happiness of succeeding.” -SVDP
V
incent de Paul was a priest of the catholic church who spend
most of his life to serving the poor. De Paul was renowned for his com-
keeping his spirit alive in the world.
S
food it receives from Second Harvest
VDP and Second Harvest Food
Food Bank to hungry families and
Bank are a partnership and
individuals” (SHFB).
aim for the same goal to solve the
passion, humility, and generosity.
hunger problem. “Annually SVDP
SVDP food closet is dedicated to
distributes over 435,000 pounds of
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Chpater 2 “ It just so great to see so many young kids who care and willing to spread their time,” says Julie Perry, the treasurer of SVDP. A lot of volunteers are the teenagers either in middle school or high school. I volunteer at SVDP food closet every Friday from 4pm to 5 pm. There are usually 4 people in the food closet to keep the place organized and assist others to get food. Volunteers often have to help around 40-70 people
each time, and there is a simple procedure to follow. First, they will sign in with their card when they register at the first time come to SVDP. During the registration, they only ask for simple information such as the name and how many people are in their family. Then the volunteer will distribute food for each of them. A lot of time they like to ask the question, how much of this
type food do you want? This strategy prevents food waste and also saves the food for people in need. During the process of assisting others, volunteers find many people aren’t fluent in English; this reality requires a lot of patience for volunteers to explain different kinds food for clients.
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However, providing food weekly is not the only way for them to help others. Over the past 20 years’ Thanksgivings and Christmases, they have provided holiday meals and gifts for family that have kids, and they will continue to serve the community in this capacity as long as the church chooses to keep the place open. Offering a lifeline to those people need food, they also assistance, medical aid, help with addiction or incarceration, even employment and shelter.
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Chapter 3 The clients of SVDP come from a variety of backgrounds, but most of the time they are people who lost their jobs, immigrants or elders. While I was interviewing one of the regular clients, S.S. (name abbreviated for anonymity) said, “When I needed help, at least somebody was here. I couldn’t find anybody to help me with anything. It was my last resource to find food at least. I came here in 1962 because it was really hard for me to [afford to] live. Finally I got married and got kids. I am [close to] middle class, so sooner or later I won’t need this
next year.” The food closet is the place people turn to when they are in a difficult financial situation. They could get enough food from the food closet to make sure their family is not starving. Furthermore, it gives them an opportunity to slowly build towards the life they want. As they receive help from the food closet they are also raising the responsibility of the community. According to Barn, “ S.S. also assists his neighbor who is [handicapped] and picks up her food for her.” Clients are helpful to each other at SVDP because they can meet
many people with similar backgrounds. They often come to the closet in the same car as a group, not only because it saves gas, but also because they have become friends with each other. This has caused their lives to be more complete because they have met new people and shared each others stories.
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When I needed help, at least somebody was here. I couldn’t find anybody to help me with anything. It was my last resource to find food at least. I came here in 1962 because it was really hard for me to [afford to] live. Finally I got married and got kids. I am [close to] middle class, so sooner or later I won’t need this next year. -S.S
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Conclusion
I still remember the first year I volunteered at the food closet. There weren’t many fresh vegetables and fruits. There weren’t that many people from other countries. There wasn’t a computer inside to make sure people only come in once each week, and there weren’t that many clients. As time passed, SVDP decided to focus more on people’s daily needs and pay more attention to their nutrition. Currently, they are trying to avoid
giving clients food such as instant noodles, because those could potentially harm some people’s health. In the future, their goal is to make people’s lives brighter and better. It is a shame to say that we are living in a highly developed area, Silicon Valley, where we have the newest technology and the most expensive house in the whole nation; however, there are people still struggling for food, there are still people need a place
to live, but only a few people are willing to spread their time to help them. Although some people argue that those in need are failures who made mistakes in life and caused those situations, we still have all the resources to support them. This ignorance is still our society’s stigma.
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Work Cited . “Barn, John.” Personal interview. 2 Apr. 2014. “Perry, Julie” Personal interview. 2 Apr. 2014. “Poppendieck, Janet. Sweet Charity?: Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement. Penguine. 1999. Print. “Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara” 8. May. 2014. Web. “S.S..” Personal interview. 18 Apr. 2014. “Van Hengel, John” Founded 1st Food Bank in 1967”. Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-08-30. “Patricia Sullivan.”(2005-10-08) Print.
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Help yourself Jeffrey Wang is currently a student at Los Altos High School and Freestyle Academy in Mountain View, CA. He is interested in urban photography and film. He once said “If life is hard on you, then beat it�. With his optimistic attitude, he believes one day he will make the world a better place.
Help other
Published and Written By Yujie Wang 2014 spring