For the past two years on Thursdays, Nancy has been a dedicated volunteer at our senior pantry in Grand Rapids. There she greets clients and helps them shop for food, helps them bag their items and does some restocking and other tasks. Nancy is very dedicated to our mission and serving our seniors and it shows through in her compassion to the seniors and those she works with. Over 25 years ago, Nancy’s mother delivered meals for Meals on Wheels with a friend and later received meals as well, which is the reason for Nancy’s draw towards the organization. Nancy started volunteering after she retired, as she wanted to keep doing something meaningful with her time.
Born and Raised in Grand Rapids, Nancy loves the city that she’s called home for so long. Her and her husband have two children and one grandson that all live nearby, making it easy to see family often. Before retiring, Nancy worked for 20 years at a company that gave corporate gifts and service awards to employees at big businesses like Spectrum and many others. She calls it being ‘Santa Claus’ to people, and she enjoyed the time she spent doing that for others. Nancy also has a history of volunteering; when her kids were still young, she volunteered at St. Jude in the library and for about 25 years she has been a volunteer at the Circle Theater at Aquinas College, working as an usher or at the concessions, where she gets to see the shows for free! She is also busy with other hobbies, like doing Tai Chi at the Northview Senior Center-(she also has a second-degree black belt in Tai-Kwon Do), and bowling with a league and spending time at their family’s lake house in the summertime.
Nancy is a huge asset to our organization at the senior pantry. Danielle Simmons, the pantry manager, says “Nancy is my “go to” person when I need extra help on a day she isn’t normally scheduled to work. She is very happy to help out in any way she can. She always shows great compassion to the clients and loves the people she works with and she always has a smile her face!” And conversely, Nancy says that her favorite part of volunteering at the pantry is working with the people there, the clients and staff, that everyone is very welcoming and kind and she values the relationships she has with everyone there. As something she values about the organization, Nancy says, “It’s nice to hear how much people need the service and to be able to help provide it to them.” Nancy sees volunteering simply as a nice way to give back, and we are so grateful that she’s helping to give back with us at Meals on Wheels.
We are so thankful for Nancy’s commitment to our program and so grateful to have her as a part of our team. We appreciate her, and others like her who give so generously of their time to reach homebound seniors in our community. Thank you, Nancy!
