Not Your Regular Party - Yehuda Gruenberg

Last week I had the pleasure of volunteering at the G4G warehouse in New Jersey. It was a fantastic day -- hot outside but nice and cool in the basement where we were working. We started out unpacking boxes upon boxes of surplus pharmaceutical pens in order to count, sort, and package them for shipment to Malawi. What struck me almost immediately was the amount of waste we barely even begin to contemplate in our everyday lives -- if we were not sending these school supplies to children in Malawi, they would probably end up in the garbage. That is what is so simple and yet so wonderful about the work of Goods for Good; taking unused goods and putting them to good use.

As I helped the G4G team go through tens of thousands of pens, I started thinking about the pictures I have seen from Goods for Goods' numerous trips to Africa. I could not help but wonder what these pens, or more aptly what their owners, would someday create. Ten thousand pens, ten thousand children -- the creative and intellectual possibilities are endless -- it just felt good knowing that my hands participated in that creativity, somewhere, in some small way. I kept picturing the smiling faces of the children as they receive their school supplies, the bright optimism that adults experience when they see their children well-equipped and ready to learn. I only wish I could be there on the other end of the line to help unpack these boxes I just packed, and see the faces firsthand.

My fellow volunteers were outstanding. People from all walks of life, helping not because it is 'a mitzvah', not because it is the 'christian thing to do', but because it is the right thing to do. From the G4G staff (Mel, Jeremy, and Brigitte), to Jeremy's friends Jay and Leslie, to the high schoolers who gave up a summer sunday to be there, to Joe's family, we worked hard but we all seemed happy knowing that the fruits of our labor were truly appreciated by people we would likely never have the chance to meet.

I feel very fortunate knowing that there are organizations like G4G in this world,who see something that needs fixing and who do it because it needs to get done. I hope that I can be involved in many packing parties yet to come and I encourage anyone who comes across this blog to get up, get active and get involved. Change starts with one person, one sunday afternoon, one selfless act. Thanks to G4G for giving me the opportunity to be part of it.