A quarter past noon, I walked over to the Cupertino Creekside farmers’ market in the hot 92F sun. The purpose of the mid-day trek was dual: 1. buy my mom some chicken feet and 2. help with the Tzu Chi organization. By the time I arrived at the market, things were wrapping up. The booth with the Taiwanese chicken feet was nowhere to be seen.
However, I was just on time for the Tzu Chi event. The volunteering took 25min. We walked around the various booths and collected leftover fruit / vegetable donations from the farmers. I helped load several crates of overripe peaches and string beans. With my weak arms, moving all the crates into the truck gave me a bit of a workout, but I made do.
Everyone else at the event was a middle-aged Taiwanese-American mom. We made light chatter in Mandarin as we sorted out the donations. At the end of the event, Elena (aka the lady who organizes this gathering) added me to their LINE group and I promised to stop by Creekside on all the Fridays I am free.
