Foodbank Board Honors Volunteers

All of our volunteers are pretty remarkable! We have volunteers that come in one time for a class project, to volunteers who donate over 600 hours a year! These volunteers help us with our Cooking Matters classes, in the office, at mobile pantries, at our distribution desks, at events, leading other volunteers and packing millions of pounds of food so it can be distributed to Idahoans in need. All of them are essential in our vision of eliminating hunger in Idaho. Their combined efforts provide us almost 60,000 hours which equates to 28 full-time employees. According to Independent Sector, in Idaho, a volunteer’s time is worth $21.10/ hour. In one year, our volunteers donated $1,237,283 worth of time! That’s almost 5 million meals we are able to provide out into the community.

The Idaho Foodbank Board of Directors wanted to give extra thanks and recognized a few of our volunteers that go above and beyond in the fight against hunger in Idaho. These volunteers were celebrated for their dedication to helping to feed Idahoans struggling with hunger. They all contribute their time and talents in different ways several hours a week. Please see what wonderful things these volunteers are doing:

Ron Poynor: Ron is our most dedicated Warehouse Volunteer Specialist, and has been for about 8 years. He volunteers at least 2 days a week at our Boise Distribution Desk assisting all of our Partner Agencies as they come in to pick up food, and provides great customer service. Ron will commonly volunteer 6-8 hours in one day as he stays until the job is done. He will process donations, assist with documenting all outgoing product, assist our Partner Agencies in getting their ordered food and “shopping” for fresh product. Ron is always great about helping out in other areas of the warehouse as well; whether it is cleaning or helping run a large volunteer event, we can count on Ron to give us a hand!
Ann McMaster: Ann is one of our longest serving Cooking Matters volunteers. She has been with the program since it first began at The Idaho Foodbank. Ann started with us several years ago when she came into the food bank to bring in her Stamp Out Hunger food donation that wasn’t picked up. She asked if she could help, and of course, we snatched her up! She started volunteering in our offices and then moved over to Cooking Matters when she learned we started this program. She has done class shopping, class management, and taught. Overall, Ann has donated 290 hours to our Cooking Matters program. Recently Share Our Strengths recognized Ann’s contribution and she was inducted into the Share Our Strength Cooking Matters Volunteer Hall of Fame.
Janelle Haag: Janelle started with us 5 years ago when she came in to volunteer with her company and she has been a high volume volunteer ever since. Janelle helps us in almost every capacity; events, leading volunteer groups, developing SOPs and programs for Volunteer Services, office work, mobile pantries, and volunteer recruitment. Several years ago when we began our Team Lead program, Janelle stepped up. She is now our most experienced Team Lead. Many times our staff turns to her for her expertise. Last year Janelle donated over 600 hours to The Idaho Foodbank. This is in addition to her full-time job and her other volunteer activities that help make our community better!
Diane Dixon: Diane started volunteering every week with us 2 years ago. She came in with her father, Art to have an activity to do together outside of the house. Diane and Art quickly became part of our family. It was a loss to all of us when Art passed away. Diane is an amazing volunteer, who is always a warm and uplifting presence to staff and other volunteers. We have gained several other weekly volunteers just because they have befriended Diane! She works great with all of our diverse volunteer population. She is so patient with our special needs volunteers and will take the time to talk with them and answer questions. She will be doing any task with a smile on her face, though she will come into the volunteer office with an exasperated look after lifting several hundred senior food boxes.

Thank you for your committed service.

To learn more about volunteering or to schedule a shift, CLICK HERE.