Dear Friends of the Food Bank,

From the very first day of the Food Bank I knew two things. I knew that people in need of food were not in a fun space. Often, really tragic circumstances bring people to the place of needing food assistance in order to feed their children.

I also knew that very few people would volunteer if the Food Bank was a grim place, so I decided that we would have fun! We have had so much fun during the past nineteen years that I am amazed that we have also managed to distribute over twenty-eight million pounds of food, to those in need, through sixty-five other Marin non-profit agencies and programs during this time!

Our upcoming events and volunteer opportunities are outlined in this mailing and I invite you to join us in these activities. This is also the time when we need to generate operating funds for the coming year.

In 2000, we lost one of our most loyal volunteers - Mary Little. I want to tell you about Mary because her life made such a big difference in our ability to provide food to those in need.

Mary began volunteering at the Food Bank when she was sixty-eight years old - an age when most people are gearing down!

For the past fifteen years, rain or shine, Mary volunteered on Thursday. She sorted and bagged food and she even swept the floor! No job that helped us provide food to those in need was too menial for Mary. She also volunteered at our GoodStuff store every Friday, volunteered for Grips and Gaffers at night and packed food boxes for low-income seniors. Mary didn't drive a car but she didn't let this fact slow her down one little bit!

Many times people say that they have nothing to give, but using minimum wage as the formula, Mary donated a whopping $98,000 in volunteer time to the Food Bank during her lifetime!

Mary's last volunteer day was June 29th, 2000.  That night she died peacefully in her sleep, at the age of eighty-three, while not looking one second over age sixty-five! Through the years, many of us complimented Mary on her beautiful skin, eyes and attitude. She would just smile and say that volunteering kept her young!

Nobody will ever replace Mary. However, in her honor, I invite you to participate in our events and other volunteer activities. Support us in any way that you can. I guarantee that you will have a great time, meet nice people and it may even keep you young!

We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Anne Rogers,
Executive Director