Coming To Terms With Poverty Through Volunteerism

Over the last semester I was involved with a local food pantry that provides healthy, wholesome foods to people in need. I walked into the experience with an open mind, knowing that I would be changed in some way, I just did not know what way that would be. Mother Hubbard's Cupboard allowed me to give my time throughout the semester to assist the "poor" of our community. As they opened their doors for me to volunteer, I began to see a completely different culture before my very eyes. This was a culture that was full of families, single parents and children who are in need of assistance as they cannot afford general amenities for survival.

I cannot justify with words the experience that I was given. The stories and the lives that are being effected daily brought a new perspective for life in general. Through triangulating multiple facets of poverty through blog posts and papers, I have gained an understanding of a culture that was irrelevant to me and I hope that it can do the same for you. My life and my perspective has been forever changed because of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and the lives that walk through the pantry daily.

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard
The HUB website

Semester Blogs
Blog 1-Joan Brumberg's "Body Project"-culture
Blog 2- Golden Valley
Blog 3- Portrait Preparation
Blog 5- Poverty Stricken
Blog 6- You Can't Always Judge A Book By It's Cover 

Triangulation - Semester Papers
Positioning Essay
Verbal and Visual Portrait
Critical Bibliographic Essay
"Big" Ethnography


Getting Involved
Volunteering at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard
Ride for the Hungry
Food Bank

A Second Home

Blog 7: Extra Credit

For some people Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is just a place where people that are struggling to make ends meet go to get free food but for many Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is a second home. Throughout the several blogs that I have posted over the last couple of months, I have touched on several aspects of poverty and the patrons that have to deal with this kind of lifestyle. I have shared that some view poverty as a way of life and some see poverty as a choice. Regardless of how you may feel, poverty is happening all around us and we see it everywhere we go but what people don't get to see is how organizations like Mother Hubbard's Cupboard operate. They only know what goes on from what they hear, they don't get to see the inside operation. 

Above I have posted a diagram of the food pantry itself from the inside. From the view it looks small and indeed it is but regardless of how small it may be, it sure does fulfill a large need in our community. This diagram helps get a sense of where things are located throughout the pantry and it also gives you a sense of what kinds of things are there. For the limited amount of space, Mother Hubbard's Cupboard serves approximately 130 patrons within a three-hour time frame. The shelves are practically stacked to the ceiling with cans and boxes of food. Even though space is limited, staff and volunteers find a way every day to make ends meet. If you ask them how it all works they probably wouldn't be able to tell you; it just does.

As patrons struggle to make ends meet, they find themselves here at the pantry every week. After volunteering for the last couple of months, I have realized that for some, even if they didn't have to come to the pantry every week they would still come to help out. Many share so much appreciation towards The HUB that they would easily call it their second home. Not only do the patrons come here for the food and the assistance but also they come here because they are loved and taken care of no matter the situation. The door is open for them at all times. No questions, no entrance forms or evaluations, just a simple smile and a hello. Many express that they wished there were more organizations like The HUB in our community. Regardless, The HUB is fulfilling a need in many people's lives and the community is in a much better place because of it. I firmly believe that as long as there is a need, The HUB will provide. It's a pantry and it's a home. It's a place where you can walk in and place your burdens at the door; At least for a little while.  :)

You Can't Always Judge A Book By It's Cover

Blog 6: Late Fieldnotes Reflection


As I began driving for my initial day of volunteering at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, I began to ask myself what exactly I was going to do and what kind of people will be using the food pantry. I immediately began to visualize what people looked like that were in poverty and in need of assistance. I pictured ragged clothes, greasy hair and beat up vehicles, if any vehicle at all. Yes, I realize I am labeling the "poverty" crowd but this is what I did. I pictured both men and women coming in the door with a distraught look on their faces and a sense of frustration that they have to come to a place like the pantry to help survive on a daily basis.

After walking into the food pantry that clear, brisk Thursday afternoon, I was quickly slapped in the face by the vibrant feeling that surrounded The HUB and the smiles that were pouring out from every patron and every volunteer that were there. People were not distraught as I seemed to visualize before hand, they were full of life, full of energy because they were alive and still kicking to see another day. As I was getting introduced to how The HUB goes about its business, I was greeted by multiple patrons asking me how I was doing and how my day was going? Isn't that suppose to be me asking them that question? Why do I feel like this is not what it seemed before I came in the door?

As patrons walk in the door, they receive a warm welcome from some of the volunteers, they receive there shopping bags and then they go shop for free food that continuously gets stocked on the shelves of the pantry. As the patrons carry about their way, they talk amongst themselves just like anyone would do at the grocery store. These patrons of the pantry are just like everyone else. Yes, they may be poor or may need assistance but they are just like everyone else. They are vulnerable, they are weak, they have little money for special items or special events but I'm telling you that they are citizens just like we are.

Before knowing anything about The HUB, I assumed that people that were in poverty dressed very poorly. I figured there clothes would be ragged and dirty because these are examples of people that I have seen in our local downtown community begging for money. But once again I was proved wrong. After volunteering now for multiple weeks on the same day, you start seeing the same people. One gentleman in particular stuck out to me the first week I was there. I thought I recognized him but it wasn't coming together and then finally one day I figured it out. He was my Spanish Professor from my freshman year of college. Was I shocked or what? From what I knew and how he presented himself, he surely wasn't using The HUB for food assistance but low and behold, he was. Every Thursday around 4pm, same time every week, my old professor walks in the door dressed in a button-up dress shirt, slacks and dress shoes ready to shop for his weekly food supply. From the outside you would never know that he would need assistance. The way he holds his head high, his body posture is proper as it should be and he is highly educated. You would never think he would be here.

As my perception started to unfold, I began to notice that I needed to get a new realization of what kind of people use the food pantry. I cannot put it any other way rather than people use the food pantry. Ordinary people that are just like you and me. The only difference is that they are using the services of The HUB and we are not. As I continue to volunteer and get to know some of the patrons, I am finding out that a lot of them have daily jobs, families, and a mortgage; the only difference is that they just don't have enough money left over to buy food. As many of the patrons would tell you, they are only a few pay checks away from getting out of poverty and people that are not in poverty are only a few pay checks away from being in poverty.

Our community has a need and The HUB is taking that need by the throat and squeezing every resource possible to give back to the community. The hungry are being fed and in turn the community is learning how to become more sustainable. The more the patrons use the services at The HUB, the more knowledgeable they are becoming about learning how to choose healthier foods and even learn how to start their own gardens with nutritional classes and gardening classes.

The HUB is more than just a food pantry. It is home to many staff and volunteers as well as the patrons that come on a weekly basis. The HUB is satisfying a need and the response is growing in numbers. The people need The HUB and The HUB needs the people.

Don't just judge the cover, open the book up and read it!!!!You might be surprised in what you find.

Poverty Stricken

Blog 5

In a generation where we pride ourselves on the amount of resources we have at our fingertips, why is it that so many low-income people and/or families still remain in situations such as poverty in spite of the availability of resources? Poverty is an enduring problem in the U.S. that remains at the center of attention for many researchers. While many focus on identifying what social groups are most at risk, like single woman, little attention is addressed in finding reasons behind differing poverty rates across groups.

Commonly, cultural pressures are exerted by communities, families, peers and media that encourage single mothers to conform to a subculture of poverty, but with that they are undermining opportunities to escape poverty. This conflict is realized by the experiences of low-income women who are primarily viewed as caretakers, burdened with responsibilities of raising their children and therefore are left with little to no options.  

One of the concerns that were raised in an article, “Families in Poverty in the 1990’s”, states that job growth tends to be concentrated in the service sector, particularly in entry level or “secondary sector” jobs, such as cashier, waitress, or sales clerk. These jobs typically pay near minimum wage and generally do not offer resources such as health insurance, paid time off, etc. (Seccombe 1099). What tends to happen is that people that live in low-income situations or at poverty level, are presumed to be incapable or unwilling but the truth of the matter is the problem is not finding or wanting a job, but rather finding a job that pays well enough to get the family out of poverty. Instead of resources being given to them, resources are not available.

Denny Taylor's article Toxic Literacies: Exposing the Injustices of Bureaucratic Texts is another example of how people detect low-income families as incapable or unable to survive on their own.  In a debate on the welfare system, a representative states that we cannot feed the alligators, if we feed the alligators we are creating a sense of dependency and therefore they cannot survive on their own, their own being the ones on welfare. Taylor goes on to disprove the representative's point by using stories of the actual people that have to go through these struggles every day.  Again, due to lack of work and other resources, able bodied people are suffer from poor nutrition, they live without medical insurance, without dental care, in substandard housing, in abandoned buildings, on the streets, without work and again, without work (Taylor 2).

One after another, poverty-stricken people fall short of being able to support themselves or their families due to multiple explanations and this can be seen all throughout Denny Taylor’s article. Not all but many of the people that live this life want to work and want to get their necks above level but when the money that is being made just isn’t cutting it, what else can they do? They fight the battle to keep living but like the forty-two year old man who had pneumonia, some just don not make it. The official documentation stated that he died of pneumonia. Unofficially? He died of poverty.

Portrait Preparation

  

Blog 3

Mother Hubbard is a woman of older decent that has traveled across various paths reaching different tasks that has been thrown her way. She is seen as a mother, a nurturer, an educator and a friend. This describes the woman in the picture and it also describes Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. The woman holding delicious fruits and vegetables represent the mother and the nurturer blessing her children with the necessities to get through the day. The children are the community members that come into Mother Hubbard's Cupboard for various items.

Not only does the women in the picture resemble a mother and a nurturer blessing her children with food, but she also represents warmth, safety and protection. She brings safety and protection to the ones in need and to the land where the food is produced. The arms wrapped around us brings a feeling of acceptance and it gives the feeling of welcoming. It tells us that this is a place that we can go and not feel neglected. We can be set free of our burdens even if it is only for a little while. 

We can also see Mother Hubbard as an educator. She increases awareness and understanding of how nutrition affects our bodies and she increases our awareness of where certain food comes from. Mother Hubbard also educates us in demonstrating how food is grown and how we can prepare the food for multiple uses.

As you can see the representation of the mother, the nurturer, the educator and the friend comes from the picture but these traits also represent Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. They bring you into their home, they love and nurture you and they educate you on ways to better with not only your own lifestyles but also the lifestyles of others around you. They give people food and they receive food. They give away food and then receive more food. It is a chain reaction that continues to serve many lives day in and day out. Mother Hubbard will be there for you.

Golden Valley

Blog 2

Four large buildings with simple structures, light colored siding, tin roofs, and just a handful of windows sit next to a railroad track in the country fields along with small smaller shack like buildings. The picture was taken in 1971. Grass is growing strong and is sitting maybe two feet tall. The grass is fresh and vibrant and full of life unlike the feeling from the buildings themselves. 


The buildings feel abandoned, isolated and lonely but the train tracks next to the buildings represent life and opportunity. The tracks make me feel like no matter how far and how deep you are in the country, your next opportunity is just a few train clicks away. The train tracks represent life coming in and life going out. Even though life seems lonely and isolated here, the buildings represent a life of community. A community that lives together, works together, and feeds their hunger together.

Joan Brumberg's "Body Project"-culture

Blog 1

Today we live in a world where individuals feel the overpowering need to express themselves in multiple different facets of life. But one that sticks out more than most would be the ultimate expression of the body as expressed in Joan Brumberg's "Body Projects". You see this in both men and women but one of the biggest issues is with women and how they look and feel about themselves.

The culture that we each share embraces the mindset that we all need the perfect body and the perfect image in order to belong. As far-fetched as it really is, people, particularly females, engage themselves in everyday activities searching for ways to shape their body, their size and even changing body parts to make them feel as if they are truly expressing the real self. But in reality they are not expressing the true shelf, they are expressing what they wish they could be, someone else. Basically stating what I have is not good enough so I will do whatever it takes to get there.

 "Fieldworking" defines culture as an invisible web of behaviors, patterns, rules, and rituals of a group of people who have contact with one another and share common languages. The definition clearly exemplifies the culture that the students here at I.U. live within. Yes, we are all different people coming from different backgrounds but you see the same trends, behaviors and patterns on a daily basis. Everyone is trying to be like the next person. I see this in the way they talk, in the way they look physically and what clothes they decide to wear. Our bodies have become projects that are continually changing and revamping.

As we see in the "Body Projects", this cry for self-definition hasn't changed. Self-expression has always been a challenge for most and I feel as if it will continue to be a struggle until people can finally come to terms with who they really are. What clothes you wear and what hairstyle you have doesn't truly define you. What defines you is what you do with your life. You should be defined by how many lives you help change and by what mark you leave in the world.

For me, "Body Projects" proposes a challenge; a challenge to be different from the rest of the culture that we share with others. It's a challenge that we should take to express our selves in a way that is respected and dignified. We need to change the trends and fashions that make us feel as if we could always be better because we only live once and that time is not guaranteed.