“One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people.” (Dick Gregory)

Whether it’s the group working in the kitchen, the volunteer drivers, those sorting or distributing food and hampers, or those who work through other support agency programs to assist the Kelowna Community Food Bank, one quality they all share is an amazing sense of community. With only a handful of regular full-time staff, these are the people who keep the Food Bank running, the volunteer superstars.

On any given day, there are as many as eight or ten people working in the kitchen, most of whom are long-time volunteers. There is an obvious camaraderie amongst them as a couple of the regulars put on the daily soup or other hearty lunchtime meals for as many as thirty volunteers and staff, while others continue to work, breaking down bulk food for hampers.

Rhonda Werry is a case worker with Community Living for British Columbians (CLBC), who does a regular shift with Jacqueline, a young lady with a severe mental handicap. Jacquie likes to come and spend her days helping out in the kitchen. Since first coming to the Food Bank seven years ago, she has thrived on the familiar surroundings and companionship of those who she recognizes and have become her friends. Werry says, “She knows this place and these people, and she enjoys being productive doing her job, here. It’s comfortable for her and she is quite helpful.”

Carey Earle provides case support through Access Resources for Jillian, a teen with Down Syndrome. Sitting in the warehouse cancelling bar codes, for Jillian the Food Bank is a place she has come to think of as her job, where she loves to give back to her community and work alongside her friends. Carey says, “Being at the Food Bank has also helped her a lot with life skills… she talks more to other individuals and she has learned to read better, so there are a lot of positive aspects to being here.”

Rick Cannon is a program coordinator for Tier Support Services, a private agency offering community and employment programs for adults with developmental disabilities. The Food Bank offers a unique environment where some of his clients can work through a subsidized program, while providing valuable work at the same time, like Bill and Kim, who are inseparable pals that have been regular Gold Club Volunteers at the Food Bank cleaning and mopping up for many years. Cannan says, “Sometimes we’ll get a new client and need an opportunity to assess what skills the individual has. The Food Bank is very good at accommodating us. These are people who want to work and contribute, but just need to find a niche to fit in. Everyone has a skill.”

One of the most familiar faces at the Kelowna Food Bank is long-time volunteer, Jerry Schwartz, a quiet man with a kind heart, who literally goes the distance, every day, as a volunteer driver. Now 78, Jerry started with the Food Bank 27 years ago. “I was a mason, by trade, and out of work for a couple of years during the recession of the early eighties, so I had some time and heard the Food Bank needed help around Christmas, that year,” says Schwartz. He eventually went back to work, but when he retired for good in 1999, Jerry made the Food Bank his second career, even now continuing to work 3 days per week and sometimes more. ” I enjoy the people I volunteer with. I think we get more out of just seeing the response to the help we provide families in need,” he says.

Through volunteering, the Kelowna Food Bank connects with a broad cross-section of our community other than those it serves with food and nutrition programs. It provides people an opportunity to interact and develop relationships. For some, it is simply a way of giving back, to bring a good deed from charitable place in their heart, with a smile as payment. For others, it is a vehicle that engages them in their community, creating a sense of belonging and self-worth, and taking pride working at meaningful jobs in a place where they are treated with respect and dignity.

This is the small army that keeps the Kelowna Food Bank going, some 90 plus regular volunteers contributing over 20,000 hours annually. They keep tons of food moving from warehouse to hamper and into the waiting arms of our clients, always with a smile, always with compassion. There are far too many to name and most would rather we didn’t, so instead we offer them a simple, heartfelt thank you from the community they serve.

Photo: Contributed

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

Please indicate if you wish for your name not to be listed on Castanet along with your donation amount – we automatically list it if the donor does not indicate otherwise.

Make a donation on Castanet (www.castanet.net) CAST-A-LIGHT Campaign from now until December 31^st, 2011. (A tax receipt will be e-mailed to you for donations over $10.)

Drop your CAST-A-LIGHT donation off at the Kelowna Community Food Bank at 1265 Ellis Street (Downtown Kelowna) between 9 AM and 4 PM, Monday-Friday.

Mail in your CAST-A-LIGHT donation to:

Kelowna Community Food Bank

1265 Ellis Street, Kelowna, BC

V1Y 1Z7

Phone: 250-763-7161

Fax: 250-763-9116