Good morning friends of Care and Share!
On Wednesday, April 19th, we hosted our annual Volunteer Appreciation event. We honored seventy five volunteers that each contributed more than 100 hours of their invaluable time. They received a Volunteer Appreciation Award created by Doug Haug, longtime partner of Care and Share Food Bank and local artist.
Three extraordinary volunteers and two organizations were recognized for their exceptional dedication to volunteerism:
Dorothy Nelson single handily volunteered nearly 900 hours of volunteer service. She has made a huge impact in our Agency Checkout and Welcome Office areas with her smiling face, expertise, and dedication to our work. This is the second time Dorothy has received this award.
Christina Chafe has volunteered 173 days out of 356 days of the year. By now we all have memorized the sound of her laugh, the tap of her shoes, and her beaming smile. She works at the front desk to relieve our receptionist for lunch and covers her time off. Christina enjoys making phone calls to donors, tabling our outreach events everywhere from college campuses to local military bases through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). Her charming personality and grace made her a favorite during the CFC and she was honored with a special award by the campaign coordinators. Thank you for representing Care and Share so beautifully!
Joan Lewandowski (picture not available) has volunteered just over 200 days in 2016 as the receptionist at our Pueblo distribution center. She is very punctual and hardly ever calls off. She is courteous and helpful when someone calls in for assistance, spending the extra time to give the caller step-by-step directions to the pantries. One thing a lot of people may not know about Joan is that she is an animal lover. At any given time Joan may have six or more dogs living with her. Just last year she drove to Texas to rescue a German Shepherd abused by its former owner. Joan has been a great asset to Care and Share for almost four years.
Colorado Springs Utilities has had 127 employees contribute a combined 406 hours of volunteer service in 2016. Since 2011, they have become a welcomed and familiar face every 1st Saturday of the month putting together our senior boxes. Each year, Colorado Springs Utilities has joined us for Stamp Out Hunger, our largest single-day food drive of the year.
USAA has had 170 employees contribute a combined 646 hours of volunteer service in 2016. They have been financially invested and volunteering since 2013. USAA volunteers come to our distribution center every 2nd Saturday of the month, and have answered our call for Sort-Out Hunger events and for week-day volunteering.
We are so fortunate to have the best volunteers who not only share in our belief that no one should go hungry, but are dedicated to making our community a better, brighter place.
If you are interested in volunteering at Care and Share, please click here.
