Behind the Scenes at Bridging: Sorting Volunteers Demonstrate All Sorts of Ways to Support Bridging’s Mission
Behind the Scenes at Bridging, a devoted and detail-oriented group of volunteers creates a dignified and efficient shopping experience for each person and family that furnishes their home at Bridging. Bridging’s sorting volunteers focus on basic home essentials — items beyond the furniture — including dish sets, pots and pans, towels, silverware, bedding, kitchen packs full of useful cooking utensils, and other necessities that make a home comfortable and functional.
Bridging furnishes 24 households per day, which translates to 120 households per week!
To meet shopping appointment needs, Bridging needs to have enough inventory, ready and organized, for each household. Imagine — 120 dish sets, 120 silverware sets, 120 kitchen packs per household. One towel set, bedding set, and blanket for each person in each household, equating to hundreds of these items per week. Plus, a little extra of everything on hand!
Sorting volunteers contribute to the dignity of each person’s shopping experience by ensuring items on the shelves are of the highest quality.
“Our biggest job is quality control. We think, “Would you give this to your friend?’ If not, we don’t put it on the shelves. Everyone deserves high-quality items, even if they’re used,” said Roseville sorting volunteer Karen S.
Thoughtfulness and care are wrapped into each basic essential set placed on the shelves.
Recipients of Bridging’s services are offered dignity of choice through aisles full of household items with different styles and colors.
“I love to put together beautiful dish sets with matching plates. Quality is important. No utensil marks. It’s special to put these together,” shared Karen A., a Bloomington sorting volunteer.
“We roll blankets and towels. We take the time to match the colors and roll them into beautiful sets, says, Roseville sorting volunteer Louise S. “We love towels!”
Bloomington sorting volunteer Brenda S. creates kitchen packs, carefully assembled in beautiful pots, baskets, or canisters she finds on Bridging’s shelves. She adds useful kitchen items, including a spatula, slotted spoon, scissors, serving fork, and other utensils and coordinates dish towels and oven mitts in every pack.
“It’s fun to put them together. I want these kitchen packs to look like something beautiful they would be proud to have in their homes. The display is really important, so people can see what’s in it. What is most important is to see the smile on people’s faces,” Brenda said.
Bridging is committed to meeting the unique and diverse needs of recipients who utilize our services. The sorters work closely with other team members to ensure that each person who shops at Bridging finds everything they want and need to furnish their homes.
“The shopping team and sorting team work together. It’s a collaboration to keep the shelves full and help clients get what they need” said Kate, a Bloomington shopping volunteer who guides clients through Bridging’s warehouses as they furnish their homes.
Each week, pairs of shopping volunteers guide up to 120 clients through Bridging’s Bloomington and Roseville warehouses as they furnish their homes.
Sorting volunteers can help meet clients’ household needs right on the spot.
“A shopper will come to me with something a family needs. I like to dig around in the boxes to find what someone needs. Someone might say, ‘Do we have more children’s dishes? A specific pot or pan, or additional sheet selections?’ I help them find what they need.” says Cheryl H., a Bloomington sorting volunteer.
We are grateful for Bridging’s incredible team of sorting volunteers, who do all sorts of valuable tasks behind the scenes to support Bridging’s mission!
Did you know? On average, nearly 100 individual volunteers come in every Monday through Friday to support Bridging’s operations. About 20 of these daily volunteers are sorters.
