Wednesday Crew "Have Fun, Do Good"

Submitted February 25, 2010 by Ben Shine | 0 comments

Wednesday Crew's Motto: “Have fun, do good.”

If there’s anything you can say about the volunteers that comprise the Wednesday kitchen crew at Second Helpings, it’s their unofficial motto: have fun, do good.

The affection this group has for each other is apparent after spending a few minutes with them in the kitchen and in the coffee room. They clearly enjoy each other, and the work they are doing. Their friendship, affection for each other, and camaraderie are apparent and very contagious.

But more importantly, as volunteer Dale Tenet says, “we are doing good.”

While the Wednesday crew varies each week, there are some regulars. Two of these are long time friends Dale Tenet, of Brownsburg and John Spitznogle of Lebanon, both retired GM workers.

On a recent Wednesday, Dale and John were joined by several others including Jim O’Brien, Maria Kretschmer, and Nancy Dobbins in dicing up roughly 42 ten pound hams and cutting up whole turkeys. Their morning-long shift essentially is the first step in the process for preparing the next day’s meals. The crew varies each Wednesday due to vacations, personal schedules, and other factors.

Maria Kretschmer’s stint in the kitchen represents her second time volunteering at Second Helpings. Self-employed, she finds herself with more free time at this stage in her life and wanted to contribute. “I have time and wanted to do something that makes me feel good,” she said. "This is very rewarding."

For Nancy Dobbins, who is wrestling whole turkeys, she notes that the meals provide nutrition to children and adults who otherwise would not have the kinds of meals Second Helpings provides. "This is a great organization," she says. She has been a volunteer at Second Helpings for a year and a half.

 

Another volunteer on a recent Wednesday was Jim O'Brien, who was recruited by fellow Lebanon resident John Spitznogle. Today marks his third time as a volunteer and he fills the morning shift chopping. He previously worked at Wabash National in Lafayette.

“Every day is something different, in terms of meal preparation and kitchen assignments. Today, we are dicing up hams. In the summer months, we see a lot of vegetables,” Tenet says.

Dale and John are not only mainstays in the Second Helpings kitchen every Wednesday, but also contribute in other ways as well. Through his own and the local Knights of Columbus vegetable garden, Dale provided more than 4,000 lbs of tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers and green beans to the Second Helpings Kitchen last year, which of course ultimately made their way into nutritious meals and to the various organizations Second Helpings serves. John also delivers meals on his way home to St. Joseph Catholic Church and Hattie Stokes Elementary School in Lebanon. In addition to his work at Second Helpings, John also recently helped raise $220 for the earthquake relief effort in Haiti.

“Another thing we do is get together and party,” John says, noting that they get together often and socialize off-site.

Dale notes he perceives changes among the students in the culinary training program as they proceed through the program. "As we get to know them, most will open up and flourish. It's also great that the organization has a good rate in getting them jobs."

Like most non-profit agencies, Second Helpings relies heavily on volunteers to fulfill their mission of converting rescued food into meals and jobs. But as one can see from the Wednesday kitchen crew, volunteers have a great deal of fun in addition to their good deeds.

To become a volunteer or for more information, contact Becky Fox, Volunteer Director at 632-2664 ext 11 or email her at becky.fox@secondhelpings.org.
 

Comments

Leave a comment