Mary W.
Food Runners Volunteer since March 2013
It doesn’t always seem like the sane thing to do, my 3PM Friday afternoon Financial District food run. Traffic on Battery Street, where I pick up, is always bumper-to-bumper starting as early as noon. My pick up is at Lookout, a tech company specializing in predictive mobile security. Like so many of the local tech companies, Lookout supplies their staff with in-house lunches on Fridays. Lookout generously donates the leftovers from these lunches to Food Runners. I volunteer as the "regular" (weekly) food runner for this run. I've been doing the run for almost two years.
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| Mary loading her car at Lookout |
The donations from Lookout are always amazing. I deliver the food to CATS (Community Action and Treatment Services) Eddy Street Apartments, a subsidized housing facility for low-income residents in recovery located in the Tenderloin.
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| 425 Eddy Street |
San Franciscans familiar with city streets and traffic patterns might think I'm crazy to make this trip every Friday. But, when it comes down to it, how could I choose not to, especially since the food I'm picking up might otherwise go to waste.
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| Lookout donation |
When I’m stuck in the Friday bumper-to-bumper mess, going nowhere fast, these inspirational words from Helen Keller often come to my mind:
"I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
Food Runners is something that I can do. I may not have large chunks of time to commit to volunteering, but without Food Runners, fresh, nourishing resources would go to waste, instead of helping sustain my neighbors in need. One hour at 3PM every Friday to do something amazing for my community... insane? I think not.
