Breakthrough Fresh Market

On July 19th, the energy in the office was tangible. Everyone knew that Friday afternoon was for volunteering. After a full week, we were excited to spend time with the folks at Breakthrough. As much as we genuinely love designing with sticky notes and sharpies, the chance to work with fresh produce and canned goods was a welcomed change of pace. 

We taxied over to East Garfield Park from the Mart and were immediately put to work -  organizing food, checking expiration dates, stocking shelves, breaking down boxes. Since most of us had volunteered with Breakthrough one or two times previously, the familiarity with the work and staff members helped us jump right in. 

In the downtime between projects or tasks, our team chatted with the staff about life, work, food, and all things Chicago. In the weeks prior to our volunteering, electric scooters were “launched” across the city. They popped up everywhere - sidewalks, streets, alleys, and everywhere in between. Some of us loved them, some of us hated them. The debates got heated. The conversation was most animated when a Breakthrough staff member recounted her story about an ambitious scooter rider almost running into her car. As we sorted cucumbers and canned goods, we laughed (and gasped) at her recounting of that close encounter. In retrospect, it was a great reminder that although contexts and cultures might differ day-to-day, we all live in the same city. That afternoon at Breakthrough’s Fresh Market it was the inescapable reality of scooters that helped remind us of that.

Another observation the team shared was around food waste. As donations were sorted, a noticeable amount of food had to be thrown away. Although we’re not food experts, our work directly involves food systems. In the context of food bank systems, there are some very real, tough constraints around expiration dates, available storage space, and prioritization of what food is distributed. As a team, we’re naturally motivated to be curious about these topics. We caught ourselves diving into problem-solving and systems thinking when in that exact moment, it was probably more helpful for us to just put food on shelves.  Navigating those modes of “help” is a genuine balance. At the end of the day, we were just grateful to volunteer. 

Serving another organization in the food space is a great reason that makes being on the Relish team pretty special.  The team is excited and hopeful to see where this volunteering relationship goes in the future.

-Paul Girgis