Volunteer Spotlight: How Nancy Built Friday Distribution

Nancy started volunteering with us six years ago, on what she still calls 'the card table years.' Back then, Friday distribution served around forty families out of a small back room. Today, it serves more than three hundred households a week, thanks in no small part to Nancy's quiet, relentless leadership.

What makes Nancy remarkable is not any single big idea. It is the steady accumulation of small ones: a sign-in sheet that respects guests' privacy, a rotation that ensures every family gets fresh produce first, a coffee station for the volunteers, a system for matching dietary needs with what is on the shelf. Every Friday, she shows up before sunrise and leaves only when the last family has been served.

Asked why she does it, Nancy is characteristically brief. 'People have to eat,' she says. 'It is not complicated.' But the way she does it, with dignity and warmth for every single guest, is exactly the model of service our community needs more of.

Nancy is one of more than two hundred volunteers who keep our pantry running. If her story resonates, we would love to meet you. Volunteer shifts range from one hour to a full day, and there is meaningful work for nearly every age and ability.