Cody Paulsen's faith leads him to volunteer with his church's community outreach program, but it's his strength that really gets the job done.
Cody, at 6-foot 4-inches, is a key player in moving heavy boxes of food from the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina to North Raleigh Community Outreach, a joint project of two churches to get food to families in need.
Cody, 18, of Raleigh volunteers several times a week. Between loading the boxes into the outreach's van, unloading them, weighing them, and moving them into the outreach's storage building, he lifts thousands of pounds of food each week.
In fact, based on a North Haven Church bulletin last fall that said 51,000 pounds of food had been processed through the food bank, Cody's grandmother, Ann Paulsen, figured that Cody had lifted, shifted and hauled close to a quarter-million pounds of food over his year of volunteer work with the outreach.
"I was surprised," Cody said of his grandmother's calculation. "It didn't seem like that much."
Maybe it didn't to a big guy like Cody, but the people he helps, many of whom are older, appreciate his heavy lifting, as well as his willing attitude.
"It's definitely an advantage," he said of his height and strength. "People shop and they'll ask if I can grab the box on top, and I just stop what I'm doing and help them load up all the stuff they need."
Cody started volunteering at the outreach soon after moving to Raleigh from San Diego.
"I feel like it's something God wanted me to do," Cody said. "Growing up in California, I didn't have a lot, either. I know what it is to grow up with not a lot. And God has always provided for me. I felt like he's leading me into this and now I can help provide for other people."
As he puts his brawn to work helping others, Cody also gets a workout for his brain. He's learned how to load boxes into the outreach's van to maximize space and make sure frozen foods are positioned to be first in line to be put away. He's also honed his ability to stay organized.
"I keep track of numbers really well. I can tell you exactly how many of what we have and where it is," he said. Working at the outreach "definitely keeps my numbers up. When you're not having numbers run though your head, you kind of get slow in some areas."
His work also gives him the chance to encourage healthy habits, a cause dear to the heart of this self-proclaimed "health nut."
When he's at the food bank packing boxes for the families the outreach helps, he tries to select the best-quality foods he can find.
"I want people to nourish their bodies and keep themselves healthy," said Cody, who goes running several times a week with his grandfather.
When selecting food for others, he keeps an eye out for fruit, yogurt and healthy cuts of meat. He'll snag a few sweets, but, he said, "a bag of apples would be better than a cake, in my opinion."
His opinions are more readily shared these days, he said, thanks to his work with the outreach.
"When I came out here, I never really talked. I was really quiet," he said. "Getting to talk to people, and having things in common, it's been really awesome. Being in charge, and having a voice, you know - my people skills are definitely better than they were."
And so are his lifting skills. Cody said he's lost 50 pounds since he began working with the outreach, and he finds that the work gives him more energy.
"It's good exercise, too," he said. "Keeps you moving, you know?"
