Learn Hardcore German: Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel lerne ich viele Menschen kennen, die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben. - In my volunteer work at the food bank I get to know many people who remain friendly despite difficult situations.

Ehrenamt is a neuter noun: das Ehrenamt = voluntary work / volunteer position.
With in
- a location / role and a state of being, German uses the dative:
  - in dem Ehrenamt → im Ehrenamt = in (my) volunteer role / in voluntary work.

So „Im Ehrenamt“ literally means “in (the) volunteer position”, more naturally: “In my volunteer work …”

What exactly is „die Tafel“ here, and why is it „bei der Tafel“?

In this context, „die Tafel“ is not “blackboard” but a food bank / food charity. In Germany, Die Tafel is a well-known organization that distributes food to people in need, and local organizations are also called „die Tafel“.

bei der Tafel = at the Tafel (organization) / at the food bank.
bei
- dative is used for being at a company, organization, person, or workplace:
  - bei Siemens arbeiten – to work at Siemens
  - bei meinen Eltern wohnen – to live with my parents
  - bei der Tafel helfen – to help at the Tafel

So „Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel“ means in my volunteer role at the food bank.

Why is the word order „Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel lerne ich …“ and not „Ich lerne im Ehrenamt …“?

German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the conjugated verb must be in second position.

You can put different elements in the first position for emphasis or structure:

Ich lerne im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel viele Menschen kennen.
Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel lerne ich viele Menschen kennen.

In sentence (2):

First position: Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel (a long prepositional phrase)
Second position: lerne (the conjugated verb)
Then: ich, viele Menschen kennen, and the relative clause.

Both versions are correct; the original just emphasizes the setting (in my volunteer work at the Tafel) by placing it first.

What is going on with „lerne … kennen“? Why are there two verbs, and why are they split?

„kennenlernen“ is a separable verb (trennbares Verb) that means “to get to know / to meet (for the first time)”.

In the infinitive:

kennenlernen

In a main clause in the present tense, separable verbs split:

Ich lerne viele Menschen kennen.
- lerne = conjugated part (2nd position)
- kennen = separable prefix pushed to the end

Other examples:

Ich stehe jeden Tag früh auf. (aufstehen)
Wir fangen um acht Uhr an. (anfangen)

So „lerne … kennen“ is just the normal present tense of kennenlernen.

What is the difference between „kennen“ and „kennenlernen“?

They’re related but not the same:

kennen = to know (be acquainted with)
- Ich kenne diese Menschen. – I know these people.
kennenlernen = to get to know, to become acquainted with, often at the moment of first meeting
- Ich lerne viele Menschen kennen. – I (get to) meet many people / I get to know many people.

In your sentence, „lerne ich viele Menschen kennen“ focuses on the process of meeting and getting to know them, not just already knowing them.

Why is it „viele Menschen“ and not something like „viele Leute“ or „viele Personen“?

All three exist, but they have different feels:

Menschen – neutral, slightly more formal, emphasizes them as human beings.
Leute – very common in spoken language, casual, colloquial.
Personen – rather formal, bureaucratic or official counting (e.g. in forms, tickets).

In a sentence that sounds somewhat thoughtful and respectful, „viele Menschen“ is very natural.
You could say „viele Leute“ (more casual) or „viele Personen“ (more formal/technical), but „Menschen“ fits the tone best.

In „die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben“, what is „die“ referring to, and why is it „die“ and not „denen“?

„die“ is a relative pronoun that refers back to „Menschen“.

Menschen is plural.
In the relative clause, those people are the subject of the verb bleiben.
The subject in the plural is „die“.

So:

die – nominative plural → who
denen – dative plural → to whom, for whom (not needed here)

Compare:

Ich helfe Menschen, die krank sind.
- who are sick (subject → nominative die)
Ich helfe Menschen, denen es schlecht geht.
- to whom things are going badly (indirect object → dative denen)

In your sentence, „die … freundlich bleiben“ = people who remain friendly (they are the subject), so „die“ is correct.

Why is there a comma before „die“?

In German, relative clauses are always separated by a comma from the main clause.

Main clause: Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel lerne ich viele Menschen kennen
Relative clause: die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben

The relative clause describes „Menschen“, so it must be set off with a comma:

… viele Menschen kennen, die … freundlich bleiben.

Why is it „trotz schwerer Situationen“ and not something like „trotz schwere Situationen“?

The key point is the preposition „trotz“:

Standard German: trotz governs the genitive case.
Situationen is plural.
The genitive plural of schwer with a plural noun is schwerer.

So:

trotz
- genitive plural → trotz schwerer Situationen
  = despite difficult / tough situations.

You may also hear colloquial dative:

trotz schweren Situationen, trotz schweren Umständen

But in careful written German, genitive is preferred, so „trotz schwerer Situationen“ is the “textbook” form.

What nuance does „schwer“ have here? Is it always “heavy”?

schwer literally means heavy, but it also commonly means difficult / hard / tough, especially for abstract situations:

eine schwere Zeit – a difficult time
schwere Krankheit – serious illness
schwere Entscheidung – tough decision

Here, „schwere Situationen“ = hard / difficult situations, not “physically heavy situations”.
So „trotz schwerer Situationen“ is best understood as “despite difficult circumstances”.

Why do we say „freundlich bleiben“ instead of „freundlich sind“?

bleiben means “to remain / stay”, and it emphasizes continuity despite something.

freundlich sind – they are friendly (simple state)
freundlich bleiben – they stay / remain friendly (they don’t stop being friendly)

Because of „trotz schwerer Situationen“ (despite difficult situations), the verb „bleiben“ is more expressive:

It highlights that even though their situations are hard, they continue to be friendly.
It implies a kind of inner strength / consistency.

Why is the verb at the end in „… die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben“?

German subordinate clauses (including relative clauses) normally have the conjugated verb at the end.

Structure here:

die (relative pronoun, subject)
trotz schwerer Situationen (prepositional phrase)
freundlich (predicate adjective)
bleiben (conjugated verb at the end)

So:

Main clause: lerne ich viele Menschen kennen (verb = 2nd position rule)
Relative clause: … die … freundlich bleiben (verb at the end rule)

Could I say this sentence in the past tense? For example, “In my volunteer work at the Tafel, I got to know many people …”?

Yes. In spoken and most written German, you’d normally use the Perfekt:

Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel habe ich viele Menschen kennengelernt, die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben.

Notes:

kennenlernen in Perfekt: haben
- kennengelernt (no split in the participle)
You can keep „bleiben“ in the present if you mean they still remain friendly up to now.
- That’s common if you’re talking about a still-ongoing situation.

If you wanted everything in the past (they used to remain friendly):

… die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich geblieben sind.

Is the capitalization in „Im Ehrenamt bei der Tafel lerne ich viele Menschen kennen, die trotz schwerer Situationen freundlich bleiben.“ following any special rules?

Yes, all the capitals follow standard German rules:

Im – sentence-initial word, always capitalized.
Ehrenamt, Tafel, Menschen, Situationen – all nouns, and in German all nouns are capitalized.
trotz, schwerer, freundlich, bleiben, lerne, kennen – not capitalized (they’re not at the start of the sentence and not nouns).

There’s nothing irregular here; it’s a textbook example of German capitalization.