This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at the Crooked Creek Food Pantry in Indianapolis. Crooked Creek is one of the largest food pantries in the state and provides food to over 1000 families each week. I had multiple responsibilities this summer, which included unloading food trucks, sorting and organizing the food, serving the food pantry clients, and doing an individual summer project. My summer project involved researching volunteer management software, compiling information, and presenting my recommendation to the Board. As part of my research, I visited multiple food pantries around Indiana and saw how each operated. This was helpful for my project and the Grace and Mercy food pantry in Crawfordsville, where I work during the school year, because I can help implement the information I gathered this summer.
Although I enjoyed dealing with the food directly, my favorite part of the internship was interacting with the community as they went through the pantry drive-through. To serve the many clients, we get each week; we utilize a drive-through system to check clients in while they are in line to streamline the process and decrease their wait time. Checking in the clients allowed me to talk to each of them and better understand their struggles. I also enjoyed the conversations I would have with them while they were waiting to get food. Outside of the operations, I also appreciated working with the volunteers because they were incredibly committed to helping and easy to work with. I developed multiple good relationships this summer and was put in charge of the entire pantry a few times. I also had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Nicole Nace, a Physician with Eskenazi Health and Chief Physician Executive of Eskenazi Pecar Clinic, and see her daily schedule. I appreciate this because it only solidified my interest in the medical field and showed me that multiple social factors are in play regarding a person’s health. Finally, I would like to thank the food pantry staff, Zachary Fawbush, Kathy Keiner, Emely, Jeff, and Stephanie Santos, and the volunteers, Donald, Ed, Jeremy, Helen, and many more for this summer. I enjoyed meeting them and appreciate them welcoming me into their organization.
