LDS PEANUT BUTTER CANNERY
What Is It?: Through its partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Houston Food Bank receives more than 400,000 jars of fresh peanut butter each year from the LDS Peanut Butter Cannery. The Food Bank is responsible for supplying volunteers and paying for the peanuts used.
Help Needed: Volunteers help produce 3,960 jars of peanut butter in each 4-hour shift. Tasks include sorting the nuts, checking lids on jars, operating the label machine, and packing jars in boxes.
Minimum Age to Volunteer: 16
Help Needed
HELP PRODUCE PEANUT BUTTER
Tasks include sorting roasted peanuts, mixing in salt and oil, preparing jars, checking lids on jars, operating the label machine, and packing jars in boxes.
Sample jar to take home
I want to do this!
Well this was definitely a different experience. It’s a nice place next to a church and a residential neighborhood. We went to the afternoon shift that starts at 3:30. There were about 10-15 other volunteers, and we got some instructions and watched a short video. Then we put on aprons, hairnets, earplugs, and gloves and went into the factory area. Some other people went into the nut processing areas but we were in the place where peanut butter goes into the jars, then we needed to screw on the jar lids. Then a machine sealed the jars and one volunteer checked the seals. Then after the jars went through the label machine, a few volunteers packed the jars into boxes.The good part: the people who worked there and other volunteers were really nice and friendly, it was interesting to see a factory like this up close with all of the special machines, and it all went really fast and in our shift we finished almost 4000 jars of peanut butter. They were going to needy kids and food pantries and that’s a good feeling. Also, if you need 4-5 service hours fast, this is a quick way to do them because you can do them all at once and don’t need special training. And they needed us. Everyone else definitely would have had to work harder if we hadn’t been there. The bad part: it was a little stressful because you have to work fast and if you can’t get the lid on fast the line backs up and everyone else has to scramble and maybe take the jars off of the conveyor belt because they don’t stop coming. It’s also very long (we couldn’t leave till the next shift came so were therefor 4 1/2 hours) and it gets really boring fast. It’s also hard on your hands to be screwing on jar lids for hours. We were VERY ready to go when the shift was over! We couldn’t imagine doing something like this for a full day!, but that was a good experience in a way because it helped us understand a little about how hard factory work must be. We also each got a jar of peanut butter at the end. 🙂
The shift I worked in September was easier that the shift last year. The factory has updated the production line to include a machine that places the lids on the jars! All we do now is ensure the lids are tight and straight on the jar – if not, then we remove the jar and a shift foreman will correct the lid. WHEW! My shift foreman moved us to different stations every 15-20 minutes and twice was given a break to have a snack, get water, go to the restroom, check phone messages, etc…, so we never felt bored. It was so nice to feel that we contributed to helping people in need. Would definitely do it again!
I volunteered today with my job. I’m already making plans to do it again with my church group