My First Days as an AmeriCorps Member

I officially started working at Harvesters as a Food Drive Specialist on Monday. I guess I should give some backstory here... I graduated with a degree in English from a fancy, private University in Kansas City in 2007. I took an internship at a publishing company in KC from May 2007-December 2007 with high hopes of being offered a staff position at the completion of the internship. Since I was working for free, I decided to take on a part-time job as a bank teller to help pay the bills while I interned. I hated being a teller, but I dealt with it. I got health insurance and a steady paycheck, and I was able to pursue my personal hobbies and interests while working there. I also had it in my head that it was a "short-term thing". Needless to say, my internship ended and I was not offered a position at the publishing company. Not that I wasn't qualified - but "in this economy..." So I continued working as a bank teller as I had no other prospect for income. I even took on a second job for a few months as a hostess at an upscale steakhouse on the Plaza. I didn't care for that much, either. When an opportunity to go full time at the bank was presented, I took it. It was an office job in the operations line of business, and I hated being a teller so much that I thought nothing could be worse. I was wrong. I stuck it out for a year and 4 months working in a cubicle farm. Then I decided it was time for a change. I started taking classes at that fancy University again --- this time to get a nonprofit leadership certification through American Humanics. Then I applied for AmeriCorps and was offered a position at Harvesters, Kansas City's only food bank. While the pay is less, the benefits are much better! I know that the work I do directly impacts my local community. I've met amazing people in just four days! Day 1, October 19 My shift started at 8:30am. I took a tour of the building and spent two hours in the Volunteer Outreach Center sorting canned food brought in from local food drives. I took a lunch and met with my immediate supervisor to go over the basics of working for Harvesters - time off policies, calendars, paperwork, and so on. I spent the last few hours reading over Harvesters materials. My shift ended at 4:30 and I went home. Day 2, October 20 I spent the morning working the shopping floor of the warehouse. Agencies who order food for their organizations (food pantries, churches, shelters, daycare centers, etc) also have the opportunity to "shop" for produce and perishable food items that can't be stored in the warehouse. I spent the afternoon shadowing the other Food Drive Specialist - learning more about the details of my day-to-day job. Day 3, October 21 I arrived at work at 6:30am and spent the day riding around in a refrigerated truck with Mike, one of our drivers. We picked up unused but edible prepared food from casinos, Pizza Huts, Olive Garden, Taco Bell, and Capital Grille and delivered it to the Salvation Army, a battered women's shelter, a church, and a home for the developmentally disabled. I experienced Harvesters' "Food Rescue Program" firsthand. Day 4, October 22 I spent the morning shadowing Mary (the other Food Drive Specialist). All the AmeriCorps members ate lunch together and we spent the afternoon working on a service project at the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture where we helped harvest tomatoes, prepared the area for winter planting, and hauled lots of hay in the rain! It was awesome. I absolutely love my job and I could not be happier with the choice I made to leave corporate America and go out and make a difference. Turns out, I was just in the wrong kind of banking. ;)