During the month of September, the Northwoods Community Secondary School students helped out at the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry. I was one of those students who volunteered.  The first day working at the food pantry we were told to clean the shelves, so we each grabbed a rag and some vinegar water and started scrubbing the shelves. We worked for two hours. There were about 50 shelves (some really nasty) to clean and six people in each group, but we got all of them done on the first day. NCSS student Julio Ridgley said, “My favorite part was that we got 40 or 50 shelves done as a group.”  It was a lot of work and was tiring for us but worth it because we knew we were helping the food pantry get set up. By the time we got back to school we all wanted to sleep from the hard day of scrubbing. On the second day it was easier because our job was disinfecting the shelves so the volunteers could stack up the food. 
NCSS students chose to volunteer to help out and to do community service. I interviewed an advisor and some students about how they felt about helping out at the food pantry.  Ms. Larsen said, “I think we have a great relationship with the food pantry, it feels really good to help out when we can.”  Skylar Peitsch said, “It was fun, I liked the walk there and back, and I liked helping out and knowing I was making a difference. I hope they get a lot more people because of the new location of the building.” 
The new food pantry is located right across from the Little Red Car Wash. They moved locations because they needed more space.  Skyler Olson said, “It was fun, there were tons of people and my favorite part was washing the shelves because I got to do some community service. I also got to meet new people.” Emma Beckman said “It’s good, it’s fun and it gives you community service. It makes you feel like you’re doing good things. It helps you connect with your friends.”  Lastly, the reason I helped out is because it was fun and I got to do some community service.  What we all got out of the experience is that we helped the food pantry and our community. We are hoping we get to help out again soon.