A recent report from the Corporation for National and Community Service ranked Kansas fourth in the country for volunteering. It’s estimated that 36 percent of the state’s population volunteers on a regular basis. KMUW’s Sean Sandefur visited an organization in Wichita that couldn’t do their work without them, and reports that no matter the ranking, more are always needed.
The Food Bank for the United Methodist Open Door sits at the corner of North Mosley and E 15th street in Wichita.
The large organization provides food, clothing and hygiene services for the homeless. They also help people who just need a week of food in between paychecks.
There are income limits to receive help here. They serve about 500 families each week—people like Barbara Scott, who’s waiting in line to get a bag of groceries. She’s on food stamps and admits that sometimes, they’re not enough.
“I might have a loaf of bread, but when I come here I have peanut butter to put on the bread,” Scott says.
“It’s scary when you get old; sometimes you have to make a choice between paying your rent and eating.”
Nita Nikkel is the director of volunteers for United Methodist Open Door, she says the organization has a large network of volunteers that hovers around 400. Those that volunteer here at the food bank help people sign up for services, sort through the food that’s donated and create neatly packaged bags of groceries.
“Our volunteers really extend our budget,” Nikkel says. “They help us do what we want to do. And, I think they feel very called and it's just so inspiring.”
The volunteers come from all over: churches, companies, schools, and some are retired and simply have free time. No matter the reason for volunteering, Nikkel says it changes the volunteer.
“When they start doing intake with clients and hear people's stories, they realize it could happen to any of us, including them,” she says. “It's just a humbling place to be.”
The organization is funded through the United Way, grant money and private donations—both the cash and food varieties. She’s says the more volunteer hours they can log—and they do keep track of them—the better they look for potential grants.
A few of these volunteers are sorting through groceries in a room with a window looking out to the waiting room. There are eggs, pasta, some soup packets and cranberry juice. People come here to pick up their bag of groceries.
Jim Salter works at machine shop just down the street and says he volunteers whenever he can.
“Depending on what we have at the time, we give them a lot of carbs, everything they need for a basic meal,” Salter says.
He’s been volunteering here for several years and describes what it means to be able to help people.
“Everything. We’ve got people that are out there that are hungry who are getting something to eat.”
While Nikkel says they’ve got a good number of volunteers right now, that’s not always the case.
“Sometimes we might be short, and sometimes we have a surplus,” she says. “But, I think there's always a need for volunteers, because there's always something more to do in the bigger picture, that we're maybe not getting completed.”
According to Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the need for volunteers goes far beyond the crew at this food bank.
It’s her organization that ranked Kansas fourth in the country for volunteer service. The ranking is based on the percentage of a state’s population who sign up for volunteer work.
“Nearly 800,000 Kansans volunteered last year, and they've dedicated over 82 million hours to non-profits. That’s a value of $1.8 billion,” Spencer says.
According to the report Spencer’s organization puts out each year, 80 percent of the country’s charities depend on volunteers to meet their mission. Her organization encourages volunteerism through nationwide initiatives and awareness days.
“I ask Americans one of three things: either give money to charity, volunteer, or do both—but certainly do something,” she says. “I encourage (people) to find something that's important to them, maybe something they care about, or to match their skill set with the services that are needed at a non-profit.”
Not only do volunteers offer their skills or manual labor to those who receive help at places like the food pantry for United Methodist Open Door, they’re also a person to have a conversation with, to talk to when they’re experiencing the maybe toughest moments of their lives.
“Oh my…they’re like friends,” says Barbara Scott.
