**This is a guest post from Melissa Petrella, Group Operations Coordinator at Collette Vacations!**

There are many benefits of working at Collette Vacations and volunteering is right at the top of the list.  Not only does Collette give so much back to the community, but its employees are also able to share in this gift by volunteering at one of the numerous places in which we are affiliated.  It is a great way to get to know fellow employees, as well as all the people we meet along the way, while being reminded of the value of how we are all connected.

For well over a year now, Lisa Colon and I have been volunteering monthly at the RI Food Bank in Providence.  This past October, we were fortunate to be joined by our fellow employee, Gayle Stevenson.  During this visit at the food bank, we packaged boxes of various hygiene products that will be given out to families in need.  When we finished, we emptied out boxes donated by CVS and put the products in the appropriate labeled bins.  This is always a fun job because you never know what you’re going to find.  You may open one box full of candy bars, batteries, hair products, Halloween decorations and vitamins or you may open an entire box full of mouth wash!  Working at the RI Food Bank, you are working “behind the scenes”, so you don’t get to interact with the general public the way you do at other volunteer centers, so although we worked hard, we also were able to have a few laughs while contributing.

This was Gayle’s first time volunteering at the Food Bank.  Previously, she volunteered from Feb 2011 to May 2012 at Children’s Friend pre-school in Pawtucket where she played with children; helped them learn colors, shapes and numbers; read to them and of course, sang songs!  Lisa previously participated in Pawtucket Pride in 2011, helping out by cleaning up the city and making friends along the way.  In 2010, I volunteered monthly at the St. Edward’s Food Bank in Providence.  Unlike working at the RI Food Bank, you are working with the general public by helping out the other volunteers by re-stocking the shelves and/or handing out food to those in need.

Whether you are working directly with children, working behind the scenes at the Food Bank, keeping a city clean or handing out food to people in need, volunteering is always fulfilling and makes you feel great inside.