At the age of 10, my siblings and I were food insecure. I still don’t know how she did it, but our mother hid that from us.
Oftentimes, I’d go to school without eating breakfast. Studies now prove that the first meal of the day is the most important for paying attention and knowledge retention.
My mother passed away when I was 22, and since then, I’ve dedicated my free time to volunteering.
At first, it was youth sports, coaching and teaching every sport imaginable. Even long after my kids stopped participating, I still spent the next decade as a coach for local youth hockey teams.
In 2016 my wife told me that volunteers were needed for The Drumstick Dash, an annual Thanksgiving 5K race benefitting the state’s largest food bank, and that’s where it all started.
Now retired, I spend my days at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, volunteering my time towards the mission of ending hunger.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would take half days from my job and spend the other half volunteering.
Knowing I wouldn’t need those days for vacation, I wanted to utilize my time making sure that others affected by the pandemic would have access to food. We were living in unprecedented times, and I was still physically able to help out, so I did.
Volunteering isn’t something that I do for recognition; I participate on a consistent basis because it is my passion to help others, ensuring that other young students don’t go to class without breakfast. Thinking back, I probably would have been a better student if I showed up to class after a nutritious and balanced breakfast.
As I often tell the volunteer team at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, “Whatever you need me to do, wherever you need me to be.”
Since my first volunteer shift in 2016, I have surpassed 1,500 hours at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.
It’s impossible to quantify the number of boxes I’ve packed, but I do know that my experiences here have given me a sense of fulfillment. Whether it’s getting here before the other volunteer groups to help the staff set up or staying late to pack food or properly label different canned goods, I am grateful for the opportunity to help make a difference.
During my professional career, I would sit at a desk or drive to meetings. Now, I get to attend mobile food distributions in neighborhoods that the corporate world often forgets about. Now, I spend my days singing along to music in the warehouse, packing emergency food supply boxes for families facing recent tragedy.
If you are lucky enough to go home and know that your fridge is full and your kids are going to school well nourished, I’d encourage you to take an afternoon and make time to give back to our community.
This is some of the most important “work” I’ve ever done.
