“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.”
-Sherry Anderson
Here at Food for Fairview, we are well aware of the truth of this quote. Food for Fairview was founded on the principle of neighbor helping neighbor. Since our inception, we’ve functioned as an all-volunteer organization.
Running the pantry in this way certainly helps control costs and ensures we operate efficiently. Perhaps more important, however, it reinforces the idea that we are all in this together. What affects one of us in the community, affects us all. If our neighbor is hurting and hungry, then we all have an obligation to help.
We literally could not do what we do without our volunteers. Volunteers drive their personal vehicles to MANNA food bank to pick up our food from the MANNA warehouse each week. They stock our shelves, answer our phones and relay messages to the appropriate people, write reports, and provide each and every client with individual attention when they visit the pantry. We as a community owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to every past and current Food for Fairview volunteer and board member.
Food for Fairview Volunteers
To celebrate our volunteers, a volunteer appreciation picnic was held on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at the Fairview home of long-time Food for Fairview volunteers Ron and Roberta (Birdie) Hopewell. A great time was had by all. We played games, listened to music and had massages courtesy of Food for Fairview board member Dr. Ed Reilly of Fairview Chiropractic Center, who “loaned” us his massage therapist Petya Reyes for the event.
Last but certainly not least, there was lots of great food! We even took a moment to celebrate the graduation of Laura Tatlock, who came to us through the REACH Club at AC Reynolds High School. As of Saturday morning, Laura was officially an AC Reynolds alumna! We were thrilled she took time out of her schedule of celebratory events to spend some time with us.
We just can’t say it enough — we love our awesome volunteers! Thanks for all you do!