On 17th and Webster from the hours of 8
a.m. until 11 a.m. kids and adults packed into old Creighton warehouse.
As the loud noises of assembling boxes, forklifts and blaring pop music in the
background, this large group of volunteers had one goal in common: to provide
1,560 unfortunate families with food for two weeks. “I feel like we are
privileged and it is a good way to give back to the community,” said senior
volunteer Annie Narzisi.
Operation Others is a student run
organization that consists of Marian, Creighton Prep, Duchesne, Skutt, Mercy
and Gross High School students. The group of volunteers involved in
Operation Others began in early August fundraising to make money to spend on
food. Fundraisers such as dances, lock-ins, turkey drives and can food
drives all helped provide food for 1,560 families in December.
“We start at the very beginning of
first semester and fundraise. Then,
about two weeks before delivery week, the core team starts to prepare. We go to the warehouse and unpack things
before volunteers are there,” said junior core team member Maggie Berigan. Operation Others held it’s delivery week
Dec. 19-21.
The first day, Thursday, Dec. 19, was
preparation day. Students and adults helped assemble boxes, bag produce and
sort canned goods. “This is my second year volunteering. I helped with preparation, packaging [the
food], and delivery,” said Narzisi. The work started right after the high
schools completed their finals, and the volunteers stayed to help prepare for
the next morning, some of them until 9 p.m.
Packaging Day was Friday, Dec. 20.
It began early around 8 a.m. when volunteers stood on an assembly line
packaging the food as a boxes rolled by on the rollers. There were so many
volunteers that Operation Others had a record breaking time of completing the
packaging by 2 p.m., a task that is usually completed around 7 p.m. “I like the community of people who
volunteer. Everyone is so willing to
help,” said Narzisi.
The third and final day of the Operation
Others delivery week was Delivery Day itself, the day the volunteers had been
preparing for all year. The day when all the boxes that had been packaged with
food were sent to the families who had requested help. The day kicked off
with a 7 a.m. Mass at Holy Family Church and was then quickly followed by cars
and trucks lining up outside the warehouse ready to deliver the boxes.
With some inside help from volunteers
coding and checking each box, the boxes for the families began to load on to
cars at 9 a.m., the earliest it has ever started.
By 2:15 p.m. all of the boxes to
the 1,560 families had been delivered. It was a success for the Operation
Others organization, as well as a substantial goal met by the community. Berigan said, “ It’s the most rewarding
thing I’ve done. It makes you aware of
less fortunate people and their situations.”