Volunteering at afood bank, I prepared a shipment of clothes from Sears for distribution.I removed price tags and repacked the clothes. I worked hard to makesure the clothes would get to kids who needed them. My volunteerexperience planted a seed in me that will help me follow myOnce upon a time there was apair of jeans. These jeans were nothing special, they were totallyordinary. Born on a cold January day, they traveled from the Lee factoryin Wisconsin to a Sears distribution center in Maine. They werepurchased by a man named Joe, who took them to Columbus, Ohio. Joe wasgoing to give them to his niece, but discovered he had bought the wrongsize. He returned them to a local Sears store. The sales lady put themon a clearance rack, and after a year a clerk threw them in one of manygargantuan boxes in a back room. The jeans were donated to charity withthousands of other clothes.

When the clothes arrived at the foodbank, volunteers took the price tags off and repacked them. If the tagsare left on, some might be tempted to return the clothesto the store for cash.

The clothes were distributed to homelessshelters, soup kitchens and churches. This pair of jeans went to akitchen in southwest Columbus, where a man picked them up for hisdaughter, Suzy. She had been wearing the same pair of pants for twomonths and they were in desperate shape. Suzy was thrilled to get a newpair. Her face lit up, and she gave her dad a big hug and said"Thankyouthank youthankyou." She immediately put themon.

Here ends the story of this pair of jeans, but the story ofthe clothing and food provided by the food bank does not end. Withdonations and the help of many volunteers, it will continue to providesupport to thousands of people in need.