Volunteer Spotlight: Liz Fitzhugh
Longtime Food Lifeline Supporter Liz Fitzhugh started volunteering in the old warehouse in Shoreline, and has gone on to volunteer in almost every capacity possible: Sort and Repack, Agency Relations, Retail and Food Partnerships, Shop the Dock, as well as a number of administrative roles. She sat down with us this month to share more about her volunteer experience, and how important it is to her to give back to her community. She’s contributed well over 1,000 volunteer hours so far and shows no signs of slowing down. We’re so grateful to Liz for her longtime commitment to our mission, for her willingness to help in any capacity needed, and for all the positive energy she brings to every session.
A retired lawyer, Liz was formerly a chef and has always been interested all areas of food. While working as a lawyer, she was looking for a place to volunteer. Her love of food brought her to FareStart for a while, and eventually , to Food Lifeline.
Some of her favorite memories of volunteering were at the old un-airconditioned warehouse up in Shoreline, where she first started.
“I just thought it was amazing because of Hank and Sam and several other volunteers … I rode my bike up there and did this work with these people that I liked so well. And it was just a little pack of us on Friday afternoons. And it was it was just a very warm place to be. Just people who cared and were delightful to be around.”
Liz went on to fulfill an impressive variety of volunteer roles over the years.
The past few years she’s worked with Agency Relations, managing a lot of data input having to do with satisfying Feeding America reporting requirements. Prior to that she worked with our Retail and Food Partnership Team, helping to track all the necessary data involved in grocery store partnerships. And before that, she was managing Shop the Dock.
All told, Liz has worked with numerous teams in a wide variety of roles, even making name tags for the volunteers at partner food banks. She still occasionally helps down on the floor with Shop the Dock.
When asked about her favorite part of Food Lifeline, she immediately replies, “Hank and Sam! It’s all about Hank and Sam…When my friends [were] working in Shop the Dock, I would be down on the floor more to meet them, and I’d see Hank and Sam.”
These connections she’s formed have been one of the best parts of volunteering for her. She’s gotten to know lots of staff members over the years.
Giving back to her community is also important to her.
“I feel like I’m helping some people who would otherwise be hungry,” says Liz.
At the same time, she acknowledges the complexities of food insecurity.
“I’m still interested in food, but I’m more interested in hunger,” she says. “I have read there is enough food to feed everybody in the world, but we don’t have the will or the resources, one or the other or both to get it where it needs to be, and there’s politics and war, so that’s just heartbreaking.
She still remembers her own very brief experience with hunger years ago when traveling abroad with their young son who was hungry and crying before they were able to get their money exchanged to buy food. “I thought my heart would break,” she said. “For just an hour. It’s amazing what an impression that made on me. It’s gut-wrenching.”
Volunteering provides an opportunity for her to help alleviate hunger for her neighbors. She loves being able to give back to her community, and she thinks anyone considering it should give it a try.
“I’d say come once. It’s not going to kill you. And if you’re like a lot of people, you will think it’s a really wonderful, worthwhile thing to do.”
“We never have enough volunteers, so I would always encourage people to volunteer,” said Liz. “It’s good work.”