 US resident?
You may be looking for the Richmond, Virginia Foodbank.
January 2009
Our sincere thanks to the Richmond Food Bank’s dedicated volunteers and staff for their hard work through the Christmas Season. Many worked for long days, through weekdays and weekends, often in bad weather and on treacherous roads and pavements, lifting boxes, shoveling snow, chopping wood, and counting coins - using forklifts, hand-trucks, strong backs, kind hearts and tough skins to receive and sort donations while at the same time serving people who need our help.
Thank you also for building and maintaining good public relations with donors, volunteers, and people calling for information and asking for food. Your skillful and responsive communications with visitors, groups, and the press, in person and by telephone, letters, emails, and on our website keep the Richmond Food Bank open and in operation.
Richmond Food Bank Society’s Staff and Directors
We have over 120 regular volunteers, and many
more over Christmas and for special events. Our regular service
volunteers and board members volunteer about 18,000 hours in a
year with Christmas volunteers adding about 500 extra hours. This
allows us to distribute about 1,000,000 pounds of food in a year.
Pictures: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
2008 2009 Olympics
Richmond Food Bank Society Directors - 2009-2010
- Vivian Cheung -- Richmond resident and Senior Account Manager
- Sheila Johnston -- Richmond resident; clerk and writer
- Gary Lake, President -- Richmond resident and accountant
- John Livesley -- Richmond resident and professor emeritus
- Edward Montague, Secretary -- Richmond resident and lawyer
- Sandra Parker CA, Treasurer -- Richmond resident and Tax Specialist
- Richard Rand, Vice President -- Richmond resident and investment advisor
- Corinne Schindler -- Richmond resident and mortgage specialist
- Ed Zyblut, Past President -- retired and Richmond resident
- Margaret Hewlett -- Executive Director
Richmond Foodbank Annual Report for 2008 - 2009
 The volunteers, directors, and staff of the Richmond Food Bank Society were privileged to have benefited from many years of the invaluable support given by Lyris Aquing. A skilled Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in community organizations, Lyris deftly guided the Richmond Food Bank in its fiscal responsibility and development, while also serving as director for the Richmond Youth Orchestra Society and the Trinidad & Tobago Cultural Society of BC.
After her pragmatic and courageous battle with cancer ended October 2, 2009, the celebration of Lyris’ life was a fitting tribute to a person who was dedicated to family and community and whose spirit was nourished by music.
 Ernie and June once again hosted our summer Volunteer BBQ on their beautiful grounds. Our thanks go to the Lions Club of Tsawwassen for the food preparation and to Arlene, Kevin and James for the excellent music.
 It was excellent weather once again for the Salmon Festival on July 1 2009. We had a great turnout of volunteers and our parade entry led by Alex was very well received. (Click thumbnail for gallery)
 Our Volunteer Potluck was well attended and provided an opportunity for the people to get to know their fellow volunteers from different days who they normally wouldn't see. As always, there was lots of great food. (Click thumbnail for photo gallery.)
 Very enthusiastic volunteers and staff walked in the 2008 Salmon Festival Parade in front of record-setting crowds and excellent weather. (Pictures)
 Judy's planter garden at the Foodbank was honored for achievement and recognition in the new
Earthwise
Organic
Food
Gardens
category at the City of
Richmond
’s 15th Landscape & Garden Contest Awards Gala on August 21st. Thank you helpers Sets, Pat and Esther.
Those We Remember
 Please click on picture for the gallery of photos that help us remember friends who can no longer volunteer with us because of poor health, or because they have moved away or moved onwards.
Featured Volunteers - Ed and Bruce
 Ed Hiensch and Bruce Ingall have been picking up donations and making deliveries to Food Bank clients together for seven years. They call their superstar partnership the “A Team” and comment that “it always has worked very well because we laugh at the same dumb things”.
Both men are retired and have numerous stories to share. Bruce flew aircraft for many years and said that it “beat working for a living”. He was pilot in the Korean War and served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Bruce has rubbed shoulders with Canadian cabinet ministers, the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Prince Phillip and the late Queen Mother piloting VIP flights from Ottawa. His stints also include flying around the world twice with volunteers from Canadian University Students Overseas (CUSO), a non-profit organization that is involved in international development work. The retired pilot “loves to volunteer” and keeps busy by taking courses.
Ed is originally from Holland and is still fluent in Dutch. He moved to Terrace with his mother and brother when he was a lad. With little knowledge of English, Ed started high school at a time without ESL classes. He jokes that “scary’s not the word” to describe his experience but said that the school environment was actually quite friendly. Ed is a long-time Richmond resident and worked in mechanical and transmission sales. He has been happily married for 40 years to Pam, who also regularly volunteers at the Food Bank reading stories to young children. They raised three “fine, independent, young women” together. Ed is thoroughly enjoying his retirement and said that he ‘should have done it 100 years ago!”. He advises fresh retirees to find something to do and uses his own life as an example. Volunteering with the Food Bank and Meals on Wheels occupies several days while golfing and training for the Sun Run keeps Ed mostly out of trouble. Admittedly, Ed still cannot keep entirely in the good, as he says that “only the good die young so I’m going to be around for a long, long, LONG time!”.
The Richmond Food Bank is looking for new drivers. If you have a good driving record and have a penchant for volunteering, please contact us.
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