Karen & Eric

Firstly, Karen mentioned that the LFB has always been on their volunteer radar because the of LFB’s professional image. They also have shared their time with other volunteering endeavors, which has been ongoing. So, when the time felt right, they joined the food bank five years ago. Karen said they were initially trained in the basics of sorting and packing food hampers for client pickup, etc. Now, whether Karen works at the front desk, or is doing pick-ups in the community with Eric, she enjoys meeting with people directly. Eric works as a floater at produce, extras, fetcher, restocker etc. and has used his carpentry skills to built desks for the classroom and shelves for the satellite food bank at South London Community Centre.. His skill playing the bagpipes isn’t included as one of the skills required! But, one can’t help get the impression that they are supportive soul mates… in life and volunteering.

   “But now it’s getting late,
   And the moon is climbing high.
   I want to celebrate,
   See it shing in your eyes.”
    – Harvest Moon by Neil Young

 Along with the other volunteers at the LFB, it’s nice to know there’s still people lifting the world. They’re the ones who offer kindness through their words and actions. And it’s true… oftentimes, you could be the only one who knows how to make a real difference at a critical moment in that person’s life. As with the food bank, “It takes a village.”  

Eric who is visually impaired wishes that ways be developed and promoted to help those who can’t easily access the Food Bank. As to why more people don’t give, he says there are preconceived ideas some folks have: more to do with misgivings around accountability. Yet, as I’ve heard Co-Executive Director Glen Pearson explain, the LFB operates with minimal admin costs, because it has overwhelmingly relied on the quality of their volunteers – from the beginning.

For example, when asked about a time when helping someone else really paid results. Eric told of an instance when he volunteered… working to help other visually impaired people. The parents of a teenaged boy – who wasn’t doing well at school – asked if Eric could take extra time to speak to him, by way of encouragement – which he did. Then, 15-20 years later, Eric was out shopping when a young man introduced himself as that same boy… expressing his gratitude… having earned his PhD and a professorship at an Ontario university!

Karen can also relate to clients: especially those who are shy about visiting the food bank. Previously, as a single mom, she experienced tough, personal times: having been poor and alone, with three kids to raise. She knows something about hardships… especially as “food banks” were virtually non-existent, at the time. But today, as stated in The Economist (2018): there’s been ‘a shift in the nature of poverty.’

Yet to both Eric and Karen, no matter the changing demographics, it’s about making new clients feel that they belong… not to feel embarrassed… that it’s okay. It’s why food bank volunteers do what they do – for them.

Eric competes with the London Fire Fighters Pipe Band who won grade five Ontario Champion Supreme in 2019. See their March Medley from the Kincardine Scottish Festival 2019.