My name is Joshua Brown, I’m 12 years old, and I spent my summer volunteering on the Capital Area Food Bank’s mobile meals bus alongside food bank staff.
I spent many days this summer with the food bank and it was a truly rewarding experience. Even when I wasn’t there the bus traveled Monday – Friday to bring lunch to three mobile home communities in Fairfax and Prince William County. When I was on the bus, I helped by preparing and serving lunches to children who showed up for lunch each day.
It was great to see the smiles on the kids’ faces each time they came to get nutritious meals and hang out with us. I learned that for most of them, summer meant that they didn’t have access to lunch because they weren’t in school.
The Capital Area Food Bank was so fun to volunteer with this summer, and I learned so much. Never taking meals for granted was just one of the many things that I took away from my volunteering this summer.
I was so excited to continue to work with this amazing organization and my experience inspired me to give more than time. I started to raise money for the food bank and found it was really easy to continue making a difference – I used the food bank’s crowdfunding page and set up a fundraiser that I could share with my friends and family. I shared my experiences with them throughout the summer and quickly raised more than I thought possible.
My original fundraising goal was $1,000 (2,500 meals) but once I reached that goal, I extended it to a stretch goal of $2,000 (5,000 meals) and I am close to reaching that milestone now.
I would like to thank CAFB, particularly Cecelia Vergaretti and Jennifer Konish and board member Linda Keene Solomon for connecting me to the CAFB. I chose the Capital Area Food Bank after doing research about food banks in the region; after my experience here, I know I made the right choice for sure.
