Thank You, Second Harvest Volunteers

On April 21, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County hosted a volunteer appreciation event at Aptos Village Park.

As the nonprofit feeding 65,000 people a month, Second Harvest leaders are most appreciative of people who volunteer their time to help.

Such as Sherry Yokim, and Maritza and Angel Hernandez.

All three have helped with food distributions at the county fairgrounds, and pop-up distributions at Second Harvest’s warehouse in Watsonville. In addition, Sherry has volunteered for a pack and sort.

Maritza registers participants. Angel and Sherry help load vehicles.

“I can always count on these three to help at any distribution we are hosting,” said Dawn Barreras of Second Harvest. “I don’t think there is one time that I have reached out to them and asked for their help, and they didn’t jump at the chance to volunteer. All three have infectious personalities and care deeply about our community and really bring fun and joy to the distributions.”

When people volunteer, it brings them satisfaction — and that is true for these three volunteers.

Sherry said, “My favorite part of volunteering is how much I’ve learned about how great the needs are and how effective Second Harvest Food Bank is. At the first event I attended, a drive-through distribution at the Santa Cruz County fairgrounds, I couldn’t help but cry to see how many cars were lined up and how they kept coming.”

She added, “After the Pajaro River flood, as I was contemplating how and where I could help, Second Harvest Food Bank contacted me! I am so glad that Second Harvest Food Bank reached out to volunteers to be able to conduct pop-up distribution events. I was encouraged by the joint event they held in March with other organizations for flood victims.”

She concluded, “It has been eyeopening to see all the food Second Harvest Food Bank is able to glean from government and commercial sources — much more than I imagined. I look forward to learning more about how Second Harvest Food Bank makes connections between food sources and those who need it.”

Maria said, “I enjoy working with an organization which I can help the Watsonville community.”

Angel said, “I enjoy working with Second Harvest because I get to meet and work with more people who’ve also been doing volunteer work.”

Their dog Cinnamon has been a part of the Second Harvest food distributions, bringing joy to everyone who shows up.

This is what Cinnamon likes about volunteering: “I like being held and I love getting pets from volunteers. Also, I like being able to boost morale when the work starts to feel hard.” n