AmeriCorps NCCC Members Lend A Hand At Bemidji Food Shelf

An AmeriCorps group is helping to feed dozens in the Bemidji community by volunteering at the Bemidji Community Food Shelf. For the past month, 7 AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) members have spent hours shelving, unpacking, picking, planting and farming at the food shelf.

“I got to see how a garden is supposed to be legitly done,” says AmeriCorps member Tyreek Ray.

“I haven’t really worked on a farm before, so it’s nice to get introduced to farming and picking the fresh produce every morning,” adds AmeriCorps member Maya Giddings.

The AmeriCorps NCCC members give up 10 months to do service work all over the country. The members themselves come from all over the country, too. They live together and travel together.

AmeriCorps team leader Krystal Otworth says, “Being in it, it’s – definitely one of the biggest pros that I can see is that you just meet so many different people that the network you build is gigantic.”

The AmeriCorps group spends five days a week at the food shelf. During that time they, of course, get to interact with each other, but another highlight for them is meeting others who volunteer their time at the food shelf.

“Just getting back story and how they get into the program and like why they come and help out and do what they do. It’s awesome to just sort of interact with people that are ready to help,” says AmeriCorps member Veronica Conley.

Tomorrow will be the group’s last day in Bemidji. Then, they’ll be off to Iowa for more training. They say they’ll take the good memories and lessons they learned from the food shelf on their future service projects.

AmeriCorps member Levi Farlee says, “We’ve really enjoyed the experience. Bemidji is a beautiful city and the people here are the nicest! The Minnesota Nice is a great thing and the service itself has been amazing. The work itself has been super rewarding.”

To learning more about the AmeriCorps NCCC program, click here.