For this month’s Volunteer Spotlight, we sat down with the Taylor Family–Robin, Peter, and Sara–who have been volunteering together as a family at Food Lifeline for nearly 10 years! They come in about every 2 weeks to join our evening volunteer session and have contributed well over 370 hours of their time! They value serving their community and building lasting friendships with employees, and enjoy the fun and variety of the many different volunteer roles at Food Lifeline. Huge thank you to the Taylors for bringing so much positive energy to their volunteer sessions, and for their long-term commitment to supporting our community.
The Taylor Family has been volunteering together at Food Lifeline since 2015! Robin initially came to volunteer with her work at the Shoreline location. She liked it so much that she brought the rest of her family—Peter, Sara, and their son, who has since grown up—and they kept coming back regularly to volunteer. These days you’ll find Robin, Peter, and Sara joining the evening volunteer session every other Tuesday.
As they approach 10 years of volunteering they don’t show any signs of slowing down. Sara has long since passed her volunteer hours for high school graduation, but they enjoy volunteering so much that they keep coming back. And they’re brought other families, their friends, and extended family to volunteer.
“It just sticks for us,” says Peter.
There’s so much variety that they never get bored. “We still like it every time,” says Robin. “It doesn’t get old. There’s a lot of variety and we like going fast and getting things done. We get a sense of accomplishment.”
They have done many different tasks over the years and are always surprised by what they will be doing in any given session. “We have a relationship with everyone, so it’s nice,” says Peter. “They let us choose what we’re doing. We like to sort and do different things so it’s always fun to figure things out and make it happen.”
“Sara is the queen of making boxes,” he adds, laughing. “She rips–no one can keep up!”
“I can outbox two adults,” deadpans Sara.
They also value the friendships they’re formed over the years with the employees. “We’ve built friendships with a lot of people that we work with here, so we come back to see them and we also get to volunteer and know that we’re doing something good,” says Sara.
On a personal level, they all say they get a sense of accomplishment from volunteering, knowing that they are making a difference. “We get to walk out of here knowing we’re giving people who don’t have resources to food a way of eating,” says Sara.
“Really quickly, too, the next day!” adds Robin.
”And knowing that the food is fresh, we’re saving it from landfills,” says Sara.
“We like to do acts of service,” says Peter. “We like to do things for other people–to give our time. It’s very consistent here–they have good safety rules and it’s well-organized. If someone is looking for a place to do an act of service, this is a great place.”
