A catch up with David and John
By Cat Middleton – Foodbank Project Worker
This week I caught up with David and John who are part of our Foodbank Van Team.
David has been volunteering with Lincoln Foodbank for nearly 5 years and John for just over a year. David and John have been real life superheroes over this past year. They have been out collecting donations from supermarkets, schools, businesses and many other locations to take back to our Foodbank warehouse. They have been delivering food parcels to our distribution centres so that people can collect and on top of that, they have also been delivering food parcels directly to those in isolation during the pandemic for the past year.
When chatting with them, what I found most incredible is seeing how committed they are, how they adapted during the pandemic and how each week they give so much time and energy to a cause that is so close to their hearts. We could say ‘Thank You’ a thousand times and it wouldn’t cover how grateful we are!
From my conversation with them, here’s a snippet into their lives and why they give so much of themselves to Foodbank;
David is retired and cares for his disabled wife. He leads our Van Team brilliantly and joked that volunteering for Foodbank is cheaper than having a gym membership and keeps him fit with all the heavy lifting! David told me how the past year making home deliveries has given him real insight into those who are in need of food parcels. He’s seen first hand how grateful people are when they receive their parcel and many clients have told him directly they don’t know what they would have done without a food parcel. It’s moments like these that drive David’s passion for helping people.
Then there’s John! He was able to share with me a bit of his story of how he needed the help of Foodbank after a really difficult time in his personal life. After support from some of our team members, John got himself back on his feet and decided he wanted to give back to the community and volunteers that helped him so much. Now over a year later, he loves volunteering his time to give those in need around our city a helping hand like he needed. Being on the team has helped John grow in his own confidence too – I could literally hear the smile on the other end of the phone!
I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but Foodbank wouldn’t function without the amazing team of volunteers we have. We have so many brilliant volunteers who do such an amazing job but today I want to say a specific ‘Thank you’ to David and John! You guys are awesome!