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Volunteer Update
May 29, 2020
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CRC Volunteers,
In the upstairs front window of my home, we have a large, painted rainbow with the words “Todo Saldrá Bien” written in sharpie over the top. My oldest son, who came home from studying in Spain, hung the sign his first week back. It is the Spanish equivalent of “better days ahead” or “everything will be fine.”
On days filled with uncertainty, constant change and losses, I cling to that optimism. In a time where hunger, domestic violence, homelessness and economic struggles are an ever-increasing reality for many, CRC provides a bright light of hope.
Our staff have worked tirelessly (okay maybe we get a little bit tired!) to come alongside hurting people with resources and compassion. Our volunteer team has been incredible and while small, have been mighty. As we begin to move towards our “new normal” and slowly incorporate more of our volunteers, this newsletter is dedicated to those who stepped into the moment these past two months. We are grateful!
Warmly,
Sara Rosenbaum,
CRC Volunteer Manager
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What Now? COVID-19 Update
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These past 10 weeks have seen a lot of change. We have grown accustomed to words like “transitional,” “emergency” and “temporary.” CRC, along with much of the world, is now entering into the next phase, which we consider our “new normal” for the foreseeable future.
We are slowly bringing back in our Food Pantry Volunteer Leadership and a limited number of Resale Store volunteers. We have put new protocols into place to ensure we are following County requirements and Health Department guidelines.
Program-specific volunteers have been sent an e-mail with more details about next steps.
All Food Pantry and Resale Store volunteers will be made “Inactive” in our Volunteer database and will need to read and sign new agreements before starting back.
Our Resale Stores are open and need your help!
Shifts are available for current Resale Store volunteers Monday - Saturday, 10:30 am - 1:30 pm (2 spots) and 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm (2 spots). Please check for an email with details or email
srosenbaum@crcncc.org
for more information.
We are still not accepting new volunteer applications at this time.
We look forward to slowly start seeing more of your faces again!
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In lieu of a Volunteer of the Month, we had so many nominations that we are highlighting them all!
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Quill Head and Mandy Gish
Quill and Mandy are volunteers new to CRC who jumped right in to help when we asked them to deliver food to participants in our temporary emergency lodging program in April. These two volunteer superstars worked with our Integrative Services Program Specialist, Azucena, and the Encinitas Senior Center to pick up food being offered to Encinitas seniors and, to help conserve the senior center’s resources, have been
delivering food to participants
!
Not all of the temporary lodging participants were seniors so they have also been delivering meals donated by
Islands
and
Luna Grill
to others at the lodging locations.
We are so grateful for volunteers like Quill and Mandy who support the CRC staff so that we can serve as many people in need as possible during this tough time!
A special thank you to John Barry who has also recently stepped in as part of the food delivery team!
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Amie Defrain and Cole Hannah
Amie and Cole are a mother-son team who are not new to CRC. Amie has been a long-time volunteer for the Development Department and even did contract work for us while one of our staff members was on maternity leave this year! Cole and Amie both volunteer at the San Marcos Resale Store on a regular basis, and have jumped in to help at many of our events. When school went virtual and the Resale Stores closed, Amie and Cole stepped in 2-3 days a week in our Food Pantry. They provided consistency and have continued to put in many hours of hard work to keep our Food Pantry going strong.
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Food Pantry Leads
Teresa Bonsack, Anne Fujioka and Kim and Jim Brazier have all continued to either virtually or in-person provide volunteers for our Monday, Friday and Tuesday volunteer teams. They have had to navigate our ever-changing volunteer availability and Food & Nutrition Center protocols and we are thankful to them for their hard work, flexibility and compassion for those we serve!
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Mim Michelove and Teresa Barth
Gardening certainly wasn’t cancelled! Healthy, locally grown food is just as important as ever. We are grateful to Mim Michelove of Healthy Day Partners and Teresa Barth who keep our garden beds at the Encinitas Community Garden thriving. They are weeding, watering and harvesting the food that then comes to our Food Pantry for distribution. Thank you Mim and Teresa!
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TVIA-SD2 Senior Class
Our
Volunteer Partners Teen Volunteers in Action SD2 chapter
blew us away this month by donating funds to our Community Cares Campaign. The high school seniors choose recipients of a monetary donation each year and for 2020 they chose CRC. We know that this has been a challenging time for high school seniors and we want to say thank you for giving back!
Congratulations to the graduating seniors of TVIA and all our high school seniors!
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The retirement of a legend
Friday Lead Volunteer, Pierre Godefroy, announced in May that he is “retiring” from his work at the Food Pantry. Pierre has been a volunteer for CRC for many years, overseeing his church group from Mission Circle. Since 2017 he has spent more than 360 hours at the Food Pantry – providing leadership to his crew as well as personal, caring service to our participants. Pierre can often be found at our “Partner Events” as well, always looking for ways to hear more about the work we do and how he can support our mission. We will miss seeing him in the Food Pantry as well as his witty humor and encouragement! Pierre, come visit us when you can.
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Thank you for helping
your neighbors in need!
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Because of you, we achieved
90%
to our $1 million goal!
Because of you, we'll be here for our neighbors in the coming months to care for those experiencing hunger, homelessness or escaping domestic violence.
We are grateful for everything you’ve given – financial gifts, food, cleaning items, face masks and gloves.
If you haven't already, please take a moment to
watch our volunteer thank you video
that highlights the many ways you gave back over the past few months. Thank you, CRC volunteers!
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If you know of anyone in need of food, housing or safe shelter, please pass along this link to the CRC program information on how we can help:
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If you have a good story of volunteering, please share with me at
srosenbaum@crcncc.org
. I can include those stories in future newsletters as an encouragement to our team.
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