Real Stories

Over the past few years I've done a lot of volunteer work, including two mission trips to Washington D.C.. During these trips I worked at various community kitchens, but had little experience with children until this summer. We signed up to work at Martha's Market, put on by Martha's Table.  These traveling markets go to low income areas throughout the D.C. area offering free healthy food to anyone who comes to them. Many of these markets were at schools or community centers, so there was lots of kids. I was at the vegetable table which included corn, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. As the kids walked through we asked them which vegetables they wanted. Most only took corn, peppers, and tomatoes, and weren't interested in the eggplant. We would ask them their favorite vegetables and dance with them to the music that was being played. Everyone was very grateful, and this was one of the most fun service projects I've ever done. But I remember one little boy in particular, he was about 8 or 9. When he got to our table his pointed to the tomatoes and asked "what is that?". I was really surprised to see that some children don't even know what tomatoes are. This shows how even though some children aren't necessarily hungry, they aren't eating the right food. This is just a big of a problem as food insecurity, and should be taken just as seriously. So many children of low income families aren't getting the right nutrition they need to succeed in the future. Programs like Martha's Table are actually trying to do something about this, and I would strongly encourage you to volunteer at a project similar to this near you.