Introducing the one, the only, the fabulous tilt fellow, Phil. Since 2009, this hunger relief hero has dedicated over 2,100 hours of his time towards ensuring that our partner agencies receive some of the tastiest food this side of the Mississippi. That’s a decade of selfless service spent transforming lives through the power of food.
Phil was introduced to Second Helpings in 2008 by none other than two of the original founders, Jean Paison and Kristen Cordoza Kienker. The three of them were introduced at a wedding reception and engaged in a lengthy discussion about our mission. He was quite enamored with the concept and began contributing financially. Once he retired from Lilly, he knew exactly what he wanted to do—get his hands messy in the Hunger Relief kitchen.
He has volunteered to do a variety of tasks over the past 10 years, but the tilt skillet is where he found his true calling. Every Tuesday, you will find him there bright and early laboring over the creation of a delicious meal. It’s not uncommon for him to have made 600 meals by 9am. Sheesh! Don’t you wish you had that much energy so early in the morning?
He says, “The satisfaction I receive from volunteering is knowing that my small contribution every week makes a big difference in helping people in our community. Feeding people who do not have enough to eat while also providing job skills training to those who need it the most is really quite rewarding.” When asked about his most proud volunteer accomplishment, he says, “It’s knowing that food, which might otherwise end up in the landfill, is being recycled and used to provide meals to those who might go hungry.”
In addition to cooking at Second Helpings, he’s also the head chef at home. Upon his retirement, he and his wife made the agreement that he would do the cooking if she did the shopping. He enjoys coming up with a dinner menu each week. In addition, he holds a couple of part-time jobs, volunteers at Indiana Landmarks and Sertoma Club of Greenwood, and finds the time to work out 3-4 times a week at his local YMCA. He also enjoys gardening and diving into a good mystery novel.
There is no such thing as a small contribution, Phil. Your hard work and dedication towards feeding our community is HUGE and we thank our lucky stars that you have chosen to spend your retired years contributing to the mission of Second Helpings.
Are you interested in feeding your community like Phil?