Yesterday my colleagues and I boogied on down to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to volunteer. I love going there because I love the people who work there. They are so passionate about the Food Depository’s mission and the work they do. The first time I went there to scope it out as a potential volunteer opportunity as one of the chairs of the Community Relations Committee in grad school, I cried. I was so moved by what we learned on our tour – from the organization’s community outreach, to the educational classes offered (hands-on too!), to the fundraising initiatives, right down to the great big hearts of the individuals who work there.

So what does this have to do with Oreos? Well, I will tell you. Out of all of the tasks that we could have been charged with yesterday, we were responsible for boxing thousands of graham crackers. But not just any graham crackers…Honey Maid Graham Crackers. And who makes Honey Maid Graham Crackers…Nabisco via Mondelez…the same company who makes Oreos. Next to packaging Oreos, I think packaging the Honey Maid Grahams was the closest we could have gotten to incorporating Oreo Happiness into our volunteerism. How’s that for serendipity???

Our goal was to package 6000 boxes of graham crackers. We packaged over 12,000 boxes. That makes me happy. Volunteering makes me happy. And I would imagine that the food insecure recipients of these graham goodies will be happy when they receive them, too.

Shout out to Honey Maid via Nabisco via Mondelez! Shout out to serendipity!