Volunteers: All work and no pay - Unit 3

C2 Proficiency · Gapped Text · Close-up C2, National Geographic Learning

You are going to read an extract from a magazine article. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A – H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Volunteers: All work and no pay

One is Boroume, a group that came up with a simple idea for a prevalent problem: What if instead of throwing out tons of surplus food from different sectors, it could be donated to those who desperately needed it? In 2011, co-founders Xenia Papastavrou, Alexander Theodoridis and Alexia Moatsou put the idea into practice.

It's simple; they're ashamed. Ashamed of their poverty. Ashamed that their straitened circumstances have forced them here. Ashamed to be waiting for a free meal at a community soup kitchen. In this country of all places, legendary for its cuisine. The irony is both apparent and appalling.

They're looking for answers that are nigh impossible to find, especially where food waste is concerned. But in trying to address the issue of hunger, they have come across a multitude of other problems. Foremost among these is the question of community involvement and how the youth can be convinced to lend a helping hand.

There's no doubting the level of dedication or the sincerity behind the remarks. As pots and pans are scrubbed clean, and floors vigorously swept in preparation for the following evening, I ask one final question. 'It's a lot of hard work. What do you get out of it?' 'Yes, it's hard, and it's often distressing, but someone's got to do it and it's a labour of love,' she says with real feeling.

They're not alone in reaping the benefits; the needs of the volunteers who make it all happen are also being met. At countless charities and non-profit organisations, voluntary work gives people a sense of involvement in community and a purpose. This is even more important for volunteers who are unemployed, of whom there are many in Europe's south. According to those I interviewed, helping feels good.

She is one of a growing number of determined young adults banding together to tackle hunger: one of society's worst problems. Her evenings are not spent out with friends, but here at this citizens' cooperative, feeding the most destitute and vulnerable. On those afternoons when she has no classes, she can be found prepping the evening's meal.

Later that same week I received yet another appeal for help. It was a text message from a friend rounding up volunteers to remove the unsightly graffiti outside a homeless shelter. Could I spare a few hours on Sunday morning? I sent my apologies along with details of a fictitious prior engagement. I'm not proud of that, but I'd reasoned at the time that it was perfectly acceptable since I'd already got behind two causes that week.

Support, in a different form, is also available for individuals and families registered with local councils. Again, in an intermediary role, the group connects the most destitute with benefactors who provide funds solely for the purchase of food. Payments are redeemed for vouchers that are distributed to the beneficiaries to make purchases at participating supermarkets.

On a winter's night in a run-down pocket of Naples, a group gathers outside a crumbling facade behind a tiny square. An oddly quiet bunch, there is no chatter, laughter or interaction of any description. Some have their faces buried in their phones, others turn their gaze heavenwards; in fact, anywhere but at each other. You could call it a conspiracy of pretence, for these people are not strangers. They have lived and worked side by side for years. What, you may ask, is their problem?

Inside, university student Alida Benvenuto is concentrating on ladling hot soup into a bowl. An elderly lady wrapped in a shawl to keep her thin frame warm in the chilly evening air, is waiting for what is possibly her only meal of the day. 'It breaks my heart to see them day after day, and I feel embarrassed that while I have been sheltered from the worsening economic situation, they haven't been spared,' reveals Alida when I talk to her later.

Curious about this lack of a social life, I ask when she finds time to connect with friends or have a night off. By the look she gives me, I realise having fun isn't particularly high on her agenda. 'Witnessing this level of poverty is a very humbling experience. It forces you to put others first. I can't turn my back on them when they need me here,' she replies in earnest.

It's a sentiment echoed by all of the selfless volunteers I've spoken to in Europe's crisis-hit south, where austerity measures have eaten away at public funds resulting in an even greater need for local, community-led food programmes. Across the Adriatic, in Greece, where the situation grows worse by the day, community soup kitchens and cooperatives have sprung up like mushrooms on a forest floor. Joining them are movements fighting food waste.

With them acting as middlemen, their plan entailed bringing together donors and recipients. The concept has certainly caught on. On a daily basis now, restaurants, hotels, bakeries and other food points contact them with details of what they wish to donate. Welfare institutions such as orphanages, soup kitchens and homes for the elderly let the group know of their needs, and a coordinated, mutually beneficial food pick-up is arranged. Through this innovative redistribution, over six million meals have been provided for struggling welfare organisations.

The true benefits of this are not immediately obvious. For while community kitchens provide sustenance for thousands, the stigma of waiting in a food queue can be quite traumatic, particularly for children. However, by buying and therefore cooking their own food, families can maintain their dignity despite the soul-crushing weight of poverty.

All of this gives me food for thought and I consider the nature of my own charitable involvement. Just last week I signed an online petition for a worthy cause. A tally prominently displayed on the page informed me that I was signee number 17,388, but 20,000 signatures were required for further action to be taken; I forwarded it to a few friends. Moving on to Facebook, a link directed me to a group fighting to save a local park from redevelopment, and it urged me to 'Like' it. I clicked 'Like'. Why not? I enjoy parks as much as the next person. I mentioned it on Twitter.

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