Monday, March 1, 2010

Yelp Love for the Food Bank!

Yelp is definitely a force to be reckoned with these days. Seems like every time I look up a business, their Yelp page is right at the top of the search results, and difficult to ignore. That's why it puts a huge grin on my face to see our supporters writing about their positive experiences at Second Harvest Food Bank - some people have even posted pictures!

Photos uploaded to Yelp by Anya R.
In January, we had an all-staff meeting followed by a group food sort - just the kind our volunteers are used to. Many of us had never done this before, so I can commiserate with the Yelpers who say they were surprised by what a good workout we gave them. It was my job to put 4 cans of sliced pears (packed in juice—not syrup—I'm happy to report) into each food box as it came down the line. Not too long into it, I started looked at the people with the box-building job with envy! As they say, the grass is always greener... But honestly, there's something about hearing from the team leaders how many families we're feeding that gets the competitive spirit ramped up - my team boxed up 12,000 pounds that afternoon!
Volunteering can be hard work but it's FUN! Staff member Tometrius Paxton gets in the spirit.
Be an advocate for the work we do - Yelp about us!
We have two Yelp pages - and we'd love your review at the location where you volunteered or had your interaction with us. Don't forget, your review doesn't have to be about volunteering - any reason you support us is worthy of a post!

Users like Flor D. have used Yelp Events to gather volunteer groups to better our community. Check out her recent Food Sort event to see how it works. (If you'd like to do this too, don't forget to set up your event with Volunteer Services before posting.) Thanks for your support, Flor!

I'll finish up with a quote from Anya R.:
It was so inspiring to see people of all ages too- coming together and working together for one cause- and that is to help out others because we can.  There were students all the way to an old man with a walker!  If he can volunteer- so can you!
The two hours were really organized and time just flew.  It was nice to see people in such good moods willing to help.  I am going to look into volunteering for Second Harvest directly and get more people to come join me. 
Thank you, Yelpers!