On Saturday, September 14, the team of volunteers organized by the CAYA Public Service Track worked a three-hour shift at the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
The Food Bank buys produce in bulk from local farmers, and we were put to work bagging apples. Big apples, small apples, apples of various shapes and shades - but not rotten apples. Those, we pulled out and tossed into the compost bin, where they will feed the soil which will grow more beautiful produce! A Pagan elbow-deep in sacred apples is a happy Pagan! We never forgot that each one of those apples had a pentacle at its center.
I was joined by Amata Maia Mermaid, Tia, and aspirants Chase and Vicki. We made a beautiful team! Vicki has posted some pictures:
Our team got through about three bins - several thousand pounds - of apples, and the combined work of the many teams working that shift bagged a really impressive amount of food!
Apples! Teamwork! Feeding our community! That’s my idea of a good time! For a good time, you can join our team next year! The more, the merrier - and the more productive!
The Food Bank always appreciates the donations of non-perishable food which tend to flood in during the Harvest season and at Yule, but Summer is the season when they don’t get as much attention, so in September, their store of food donations was very small. However, the type of donation which the Food Bank can put to the best use is in the form of money. Because they buy in bulk, a few dollars donated to the Food Bank buys a lot more food than it would at the store.
This year, as part of our Autumn Public Service Project, CAYA’s Public Service Track decided to maximize our potential impact by providing all three types of donations - food, volunteer labor, and money. We collected and blessed donations of food at our Festival of Heart and Harvest, we worked our shift at the Food Bank, and we are still raising money through our Virtual Food Drive.
On the CAYA Virtual Food Drive Page, you can “go shopping” and choose what will be bought with your donation of money, or you can choose any amount you wish to donate. Through the magic of bulk purchasing, every dollar donated this way transforms into $4 worth of food!
CAYA’s Virtual Food Drive page:
Please share this link on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and anywhere else where magically generous people can be found!
CAYA’s Virtual Food Drive is still running through the end of September, so please take the chance to contribute what you can in the next few days!
Abundant and Generous Blessings,
Molly Blue Dawn
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