From the Winter 2022 Local Harvest Newsletter.
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Gloria remembers how hard her parents worked to support her and her seven siblings, and how they sometimes needed help keeping food on the table. As an adult, Gloria and her husband, John, found a way to pay it forward.

“Back in those days, there were not many organizations that helped like Harvesters does,” Gloria says of her childhood years.

Today, Gloria works for the United States Coast Guard and says she first heard about Harvesters’ need for volunteers in 2014, through her coworkers.

“When we first started volunteering at Harvesters, we learned [thousands of] people were food insecure and benefited from the Harvesters outreach programs,” she says.

That was all it took to convince Gloria and John of the need in their community, and they’ve been volunteering most Tuesdays ever since.

“My favorite activity is the BackSnack program,” Gloria says. “Knowing that a child will be able to eat on the weekends because of this program makes my heart smile.”

The couple also deeply values the contact they have with fellow volunteers, staff and clients of Harvesters.

“We have an amazing group of people that we have met, from all walks of life,” Gloria says.

Gloria and John frequently bring friends and family along to help, and their church both serves as a distribution site and members help distribute food twice each month.

We thank Gloria and John for their willingness to give their time to help make sure their neighbors have ongoing access to nutritious food. Their dedication is an inspiration to us all. If you would like to volunteer, please click here.