Today's Volunteer Spotlight highlights the contributions of Genevieve Creech. Genevieve's passion for helping others has helped JFS { SOVA feed many hungry members of our community, and we are grateful for her continued support and involvement! Here, Genevieve shares how she originally got involved with JFS { SOVA.
I am so happy to have the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible source of help for those in need.
A few years ago, during the holiday season, when so many are doing without, our store (Trader Joes in Toluca Lake) had received an incredibly excessive amount of bread, cakes, cookies, and other baked goods. So much, in fact, that some of it would never even make it to the shelves! It would virtually be discarded straight from the truck!
Though we were regularly donating our bread to the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, they weren't able to pick up on that particular day, and my manager at the time wasn't willing to store the large quantity. I immediately offered to deliver it myself, to anyone who would receive it. The bulk of it ended up going to JFS { SOVA - 400 lbs, as I recall! I remember James helping me unload it all, and weighing it. I was thrilled!
Gradually I began to push for our store to donate more than the bread, as I had learned from a manager that previously worked at the Westlake Trader Joe's that it was perfectly acceptable, and common practice to donate all other food items to the food banks. I was glad, but also regretful that our store had not been doing this all along. Burbank Temporary Aid eventually no longer needed our donations, and we began giving our bread to JFS { SOVA regularly.
The thing that inspires me about JFS { SOVA is the efforts made by all, the passion to make it work, and the abundance that is readily available to those in need. I appreciate having a source of support from those that are truly like-minded. I'm comforted knowing that there are others who feel like I do, and that good food is no longer going to waste.
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