Volunteer Spotlight of the Month: Friday Morning Protein Packing Group

Every Friday morning, you’ll find a group of eight dedicated volunteers enjoying donuts and coffee in our Maplewood reception area before their protein packing volunteer shift begins. Over the past few years, Bob, Michael, Roxanne, Buzz, Lois, Keith, Pete and Tim have collectively given more than 2,000 hours of service packing food for our hungry neighbors.

During their tenure, the tight-knit group of regulars has become well-known to the Second Harvest Heartland staff and other volunteers. Lois has been volunteering the longest, beginning in 2009 after retiring from Medtronic, while Michael and Tim signed up for their first shift just this past February.

The group agrees that the ease of signing up, the convenient schedule and the benefit of regular exercise are all great draws to the volunteer experience. Most important to each of them, though, is Second Harvest Heartland’s ability to steward their donations of time to make the maximum impact in the lives of our neighbors in need.

Bob, a longtime donor who began volunteering three years ago, was familiar with Second Harvest Heartland’s reputation of efficient financial stewardship. But after touring the warehouse during a donor event, he quickly realized he could make an even greater impact by volunteering.

Volunteerism in large part makes the work that we do possible—nearly 20,000 volunteers gave more than 99,000 hours in 2012, equivalent to 47 full-time employees.

Thank you to our Friday morning protein packing group, and to all volunteers who make our work possible! We couldn’t do what we do without you.