22 Hours To Sell Apple Pies – This Is Why We Do It

• Andrea Grugel, Germany

This year, I was fortunate to take part in an IVP project in the beautiful, welcoming community of Tallong, New South Wales, Australia. Together with six other volunteers from across the globe — Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Australia, and Germany — we lent a hand at the Tallong Apple Day Festival.

When I told friends, colleagues, and family back home in Germany that I would be travelling halfway around the world to… sell apple pies, they smiled politely and shook their heads. “You’re doing what?!”

And honestly, I could not quite explain it either. Why spend 22 hours on a plane and give up precious vacation days — instead of lounging by a pool, going on safari, or learning to kite surf — just to help at a small-town festival?

Maybe a little story will help answer that.

Tallong, Sunday, September 28, 2025

After a full week of preparation — moving tables and chairs, removing bits of trash from lawns and pathways, setting up tents, sorting and labeling items, hanging exhibits, laminating signs, bagging apples, slicing pies, and nervously checking the weather forecast — the big day finally arrived.

People came from near and far to enjoy the festival: watching pig races and pie-eating contests, admiring vintage cars, cheering on woodcutters and medieval reenactors, listening to live music, and browsing stalls filled with cider, crafts, art, and, of course, apple pies.

From early morning we were rushing all over the place — taking tickets, fastening wristbands, lending a hand wherever needed, and yes, selling apple pies by the dozen.

Then, suddenly, it was over. The crowd dispersed, vendors packed up, and we finally stopped moving long enough to notice how tired — and how happy — we were.

Just then, a local photographer we had met during the setup came over for one last group photo. As he was leaving, he told us how deeply moved he felt seeing people from all over the world working side by side at a small-town festival in rural Australia. He explained that years ago, his daughter had volunteered in South America — and that, somehow, it felt as if something she had given back then had now come full circle to his own community.

Something had quietly returned.

In that moment — amid the packing up, the laughter, the bustle — his words sank in. I think all of us volunteers felt the same quiet emotion. It was a reminder of what a peaceful, connected world could look like: people giving freely, and one day, in some unexpected way, receiving something in return.

That is what volunteering is all about.

That is why we do it.

Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to be part of this experience.

L to R:  Ou-ee from Laos, Charlotte from Australia, Dao from Vietnam, Helen from Indonesia, Andrea from Germany, Alina from Russia, Melissa from Mexico