Volunteer Spotlight: Tommy Daly
Photo: Tommy Daly, right, and his Dad, Tom, volunteering during a Sort and Repack Session at the Hunger Solution Center.
For this month’s Volunteer Spotlight, we sat down with High Schooler Tommy Daly, who initially started volunteering for his required high school hours, and quickly became a regular volunteer at Food Lifeline. He says he’s learned so much – from the high rate of food insecurity, to what’s involved in repacking and distributing food. He even did some volunteering at a local food bank, so was able to see the entire distribution chain in action. We’re grateful to Tommy and his family for their dedication and commitment to our mission, and for all of the energy they bring to their volunteer sessions.
When High Schooler Tommy Daly needed volunteer hours for school, he picked Food Lifeline off a long list of places to volunteer.
“I thought food is a good thing to volunteer for because everyone needs food, and so it’s important that everyone has access to it,” says Tommy.
He enjoyed volunteering at the Hunger Solution Center so much, he kept coming back. The rest of his family also got into the action. His Mom Josephine came in most Mondays and Tuesdays over the summer to volunteer with him, and his Dad Tom has also come in several times with him. All together, the family has volunteered over 66 hours at Food Lifeline!
Tommy even volunteered a few times at a food pantry in North Seattle. There, he was able to see where the food he was packing at Food Lifeline went, and he was able to see how food was distributed to neighbors experiencing hunger.
“I liked how you could see people actually handing out the food to people,” he says.
And he even saw some bulgar wheat that he had seen during his sort and repack session at Food Lifeline, then being distributed out to people.
He says that he’s learned a lot from volunteering at Food Lifeline. He’s learned both about the high rate of food insecurity – that 1 in five people are food insecure – as well as what’s involved in the process of getting large quantities of food into smaller quantities for distribution.
When he’s not volunteering, Tommy is busy with school, and is super interested in transit systems, architecture, and civil engineering.
His parents love the real life experience and perspective he’s gained through his many volunteer hours at Food Lifeline.
“I think I think it’s it’s really good that he sees what’s going on in the world firsthand,” says Tom.
“He sees what the need is and how to satisfy the need, and the various aspects of how to get that need filled from start to finish.
Tom was also struck by how quickly the food goes out from the warehouse to food banks and shelters.
“Nobody nobody goofs around, everybody is serious, and everybody wants to finish their task so they can get the food out…The corn that we husked earlier was already gone. By the time we finished our pallets, it was moved over to another area and had already been distributed… And the remaining pieces that were still there were going to be gone in a day or two also.”
“This has just been a tremendous experience for all of us, says Tom. “Especially to see how efficient and committed the staff and volunteers all are. It’s just amazing.”
during a Volunteer Session at the Hunger Solution Center.