Volunteer Gianna Gomez helps a customer at the Veggie Mobile. Photo by Donna Liquori

The night before the National Day of Service, I realized that my family needed groceries because I’d just thrown out a lot of rotten produce. I ran to the grocery store for a bag of food, including carrots, grapes and cucumbers. Without blinking, I handed over my debit card for the $39.70 purchase.

The following day, my kids went off to school with their nutritious lunches, I headed to downtown Albany to meet the volunteers who operate the Veggie Mobile. For Sept. 11, I wanted to volunteer at a project that was life-affirming and encouraged people to be healthy. The Veggie Mobile is a project of upstate New York’s Capital Region Community Gardens, which manages 46 cooperative neighborhood food gardens. The Veggie Mobile has sold produce wholesale in low-income neighborhoods, including public and senior housing, since 2007.

I heard its hallmark cheerful music before the brightly decorated truck came into view and pulled up next to a flag flying at half-staff. Nick Wallas, a 23-year-old AmeriCorps volunteer, hopped out to greet me. He opened the truck, we unloaded produce and arranged it in wooden bins lining the interior, and we set up a ramp from the pavement.

Nick had barely turned on the cash register when customers began climbing in—excited about the state of the nectarines and the local tomatoes. Nick showed me how to weigh produce. Two other volunteers bagged and rang out at a quick pace, greeting people by name. I jumped in when I could. Many customers paid with benefit cards. For people who had disabilities, we carried their produce down the steep ramp.

I carried three bunches of scallions, some corn and change out to a woman who sat at a bench beside her walker. Her name is Bessie Allen and she saves her produce shopping for the Veggie Mobile because navigating a grocery store is too hard; someone else does that for her. “I’m used to being independent,” Allen said.

The Veggie Mobile makes 15 stops a week. Sometimes the volunteers demonstrate how to make a smoothie or another healthy dish.

The prices were 30 to 40 percent below supermarket costs. Given their total, some customers said, “That’s it?” But judging by the look on others’ faces, the expense was still tough. People bought only what they needed, always asking about prices.

It will be interesting the next time I go to the grocery store for a few things. I won’t be buying more than I need.

Donna Liquori lives in Delmar, N.Y.