Packing Rainbow Food Boxes - 3/12/16

by John Aldrich

A sure sign of spring - and food runs just around the corner - are the two Saturday mornings we spend at the warehouse packing Rainbow Food Boxes. Yesterday was the first of these 2 days. It was a beautiful day and we had an outstanding turnout of volunteers to help with the work. It was gratifying to see many new faces along with those of seasoned veterans. Altogether there were about 70 people eager to help our Elders by packing the boxes that will be delivered during the spring food runs to the reservation.

The custom is to start the day with a brief circle outside for general orientation and a Navajo prayer.

Then we got right to work, with new volunteers pairing up with experienced people to load the boxes. As the teams move in a circle around the warehouse the sets of boxes for each Elder are filled with the prescribed food items. When we have an abundance of volunteers, as we did yesterday, some are assigned to handing out items to the "shoppers" to assure that the correct count ends up in each box.

After the boxes are filled, each set receives a pair of labels so that it will ultimately be delivered to a specific Elder. The labels are color-coded for each of our eleven food runs.

The boxes then go to the taping tables where they are taped shut and the labels affixed. The boxes for each food run are stacked together for efficient loading when the time comes for trucks and vehicles to be loaded for the food runs.

New volunteers are typically quite impressed with the level of organization involved in this whole process. The mastermind behind this logistical feat is our congenial ANE program assistant director, C.J. Robb.

On a side note, the award for volunteers in attendance who were furthest from home goes to two amiable and hard working young men from Nepal. They are attending Cottonwood High School here in Salt Lake, and it was a pleasure to have them join us.

 Here are some additional shots from yesterday's activity.

Next Saturday, March 19th at 8:00 a.m., we will converge on the warehouse once more to complete the process of packing the Rainbow Boxes. We would love to have you join us. The work is not strenuous and everyone has lots of fun.

See you then!

The Food Has Arrived!

by John Aldrich

Today was the big day for the food delivery for the upcoming spring food runs. Lots of advance planning and work goes into this by our assistant director and warehouse manager C.J. Robb. C.J. has redesigned the layout of the warehouse for the food so we all had to reorient to the new system. Since he had to be at Walmart during the morning working on the order, he thoughtfully left us instructions as to how he wanted us to do things.

Food items were all assigned new locations around the warehouse. Handy new signs had been created to indicate where each should go. You will also note new signs for the food run locations as well.

An excellent turnout of volunteers was ready when the door opened for the first truckload of food.

Boyd Mitchell was once again the driver and pallet wrangler for the delivery.

Once pallets were off the truck volunteers got right to work putting food items in their respective locations.

Sam Aloia took charge of the Ramen.

And Lamar Clark helped Boyd on the truck.

The pallets kept coming and the volunteers kept working.

Fred Toensing pauses before hefting a load of food.

When the truck left for the second load, everyone gathered for a group photo.

The next big step in preparing the food for the Elders will be packing the Rainbow Food Boxes. This activity needs a much bigger turnout of volunteers. We hope that you will be able to join us on two consecutive Saturdays, March 7th and March 14th at the warehouse from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The final step, of course, will be the food runs themselves when the boxes will be delivered to the Elders. Please consider joining us for one of these rewarding excursions to the reservation. Details can be found on the Volunteer Activities Page of our web site.

ANE Volunteer Christmas Party

by John Aldrich

Yesterday we had our annual Christmas party for volunteers at the warehouse. This is always a fitting and enjoyable close to the year. We had a good turnout and enjoyed delicious potluck food and a variety of games. Linda also read letters of appreciation from a number of Elders. In the giveaway spirit, the prizes for the games were gift boxes to be sent to an Elder of choice. Gifts from the Elders were also distributed to those present.

When we return after the holidays, the warehouse, which has already seen a beautiful transformation this year, will have had new carpeting installed. We've had a great year and look forward to the next. And we wish all of you the best for the Holiday Season and the New Year.

Here is a collection of photos from yesterday's event presented without further comment: