Key Club volunteered at West Valley Community Service Pantry Clean on Saturday, Feb. 18, where members sorted and stocked shelves with food, washed  produce and cleaned up towards the end of the shift. Members helped clean the pantry and more from 9 a.m to 12 p.m.

The West Valley Community Services (WVCS) aims to fight poverty by providing critical food, housing and support services to the low income and homeless individuals and families living in Cupertino, Saratoga, West San Jose, Monte Sereno, and Los Gatos, according to their website.

One of their services is the food pantry. They provide a wide selection of food to families who are facing a hunger crisis. According to their website, “Clients visit our pantry weekly, selecting from a variety of healthy and delicious foods donated by local partners, including Second Harvest Food Bank, Target, Sprouts, Gene’s Fine Foods, Whole Foods, and other local vendors.”

In the beginning of their shift, members cleaned the large fridge that stored bulk of the food. While some finished up cleaning the fridge others went off to clean to inside of the WVCS vans, which store and transport food.

“I really like the idea of helping people who are in need … and how simple [the process is] to allow me to volunteer,” senior volunteer Sylvia Rodriguez said.

WVCS encourages all walks of life to volunteer, from students to grandparents, from new immigrants to individuals with special needs.

“You can give as little or as much time as you want, and our volunteer program will match your skills and interests to a role that`s just right for you. It can be sorting and serving clients in the food pantry to providing administrative or IT support,” according to the WVCS website.      

”[We cleaned] up the trays so we can provide the area for food for the people … there are people who are not as fortunite as us and knowing that I could just help out little by little,” Rodriguez said.

For other first-time volunteers students it can have a sincere affect on how they view the community that they live in.

“I really like helping out [and] I think that it’s really important to help out these places that give back to people in need. And it just seemed really fun to me and I have never done an event like this before,” junior Hannah Moslemy said.

Even though the volunteers gain volunteer hours through the event, there are other benefits to volunteering.

“I did meet a lot of new people and also I think it was a good experience to have, especially to see what goes into giving back to the community food wise,” Moslemy said.