indiana jones and the boxes

Today was probably the most productive summer day so far. I actually did things that were important.
First, I went to a swim meet. Actually I did this second. It was pretty exciting because I almost missed my event and it was a relay, but I made it just in time like Indiana Jones. Talk about a win. But before that I volunteered at the warehouse.
It was actually a not very sketch warehouse; rather upscale as warehouses go. And me and my sister helped sort through almost a hundred huge industrial boxes of donations for the Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornado victims. It was actually a lot of fun. We found all sorts of interesting items that people threw out, including, but not limited to: glitter, Q-tips (not in a box), dirty dishes (yes, it's true), an empty vodka bottle (...), newspapers, lingerie (another "..."), and the like. But there were some actually nice things too, like storage units, nice clothes, and bedding. And we had to sort through everything, every box, and put it into other boxes that organized the items more.
We donate a lot of stuff too, and I always think that all the items we donate just magically make their way to the places they need to be at, and that they don't need to be sorted. But there is a lot of work that goes into making sure that every donated item gets a place to go. And that is a lot more work than I thought.
It really gave me a perspective about volunteering too. Not only do you have to donate these things, but we have to do a lot of work to get the things to these people whose homes and towns have been ruined. It's a lot more intense than you would think. I might go back soon and help them finish sorting because there were so many boxes. Think 5 feet deep, about 4.5 feet around. That's how big each box is, filled with anything and everything. And we have to go through all of them. But it was nice to help people out and know that the shirt you are holding in your hands, throwing into a box to get sorted, will end up with someone who might have lost their family in the tornado, and that shirt means more to them than anything at the moment.
And plus we got to work in a cool warehouse.