Your name: Erik Jorgensen, http://www.twitter.com/All_AmERIKan

Cause name: North Texas Food Bank, volunteer coordinator Lydia Rudy, 214.330.1396.

Cause website url: http://www.ntfb.org/gi_volunteer.cfm

Is this your first time volunteering with this cause? Yes, first time volunteering here in Texas!

CBS Radio at North Texas Food Bank

Questions

1. Please provide a short paragraph about your volunteer experience.

My employer, CBS Radio, gave us the opportunity to volunteer with the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) and I figured it’d be a great way to meet some new coworkers while helping a great cause in the community. We all arrived at 9am and met in the staging area. The volunteer coordinator told us our responsibilities and we split up into two groups. We all would be packing boxes of donated foods. One group would be packing boxes from packaged bulk items, and the other group (my group) would be packing boxes from assorted donated items. Thus, we had to sort the food items first, then pack them into the boxes which would then be provided to needy families throughout the area.

We took our posts at various stages throughout the process and quickly found a way to make our task efficient. I spent most of the time making the boxes that would hold all the food. It was here I got to meet Raul, one of the many admins in the CBS family. He also entertains a lot of our clients at Cowboys Stadium so we spent a lot of time talking about the Cowboys, music, and Dallas in general. As I looked around, I could see everyone sharing smiles and having a good time at such a worthy cause.

Us, working hard.

2. What were you expecting going into this volunteering event? Did those expectations change at all once you were done volunteering?

Having volunteered at food banks before, I was expecting to work hard preparing food boxes for needy families. I also had hoped to meet some new people both at the Food Bank and my fellow colleagues. I was grateful to meet a couple new people while helping a great cause.

3. What was one thing you saw or did today that you’ll remember from today’s volunteering event?

That all told, our volunteers packed more than 30,000 pounds of food! This will help provide more than 20,000 meals for needy families!

4. As an “experienced” volunteer at this cause, what would you tell someone who’s interested in volunteering at this cause for the first time?

Dress in loose fitting clothes and prepare to get a workout in! And also have fun! It is really a great time.

5. Are there any additional items people should know about volunteering at this cause?

There is a pretty fair amount of strenuous activity involved, but nothing too exhausting. Volunteers should sign up through the website. They offer group and corporate opportunities in addition to single volunteer opportunities.