National Volunteer Month: Celebrating Food Bank Volunteers Nancy and Harry Blum

April is National Volunteer month, and Sister Carmen had over 400 active volunteers who worked a total of over 18,500 last year–certainly something to celebrate! Two of those volunteers are Nancy and Harry Blum.

Nancy and Harry have been wonderful, dedicated volunteers for many years, volunteering over 1,200 hours! They have volunteered multiple shifts during the pandemic, when we needed help the most. They are quick to take on any job that’s needed, and help show new volunteers the ropes. Nancy and Harry are compassionate, fun, and hardworking volunteers. They live at Anthem Ranch, and have done outreach for volunteer recruitment, food drives, and more. We are extremely lucky to have such kind and devoted volunteers.

“Nancy and Harry Blum are truly our Food Bank volunteer rock stars! They began volunteering in July of 2017 and have devoted countless hours over these past 3 years to improving the overall organization and running of our Food Bank. Like clockwork, 3 times a week for 3 hours each time, they always arrive with enthusiasm, compassion, efficiency and a wonderful sense of humor! Their commitment to volunteering is exceptional.”–Ruth Perry, Food Bank Manager

In their words:

“Harry and I have been volunteering 3 days a week (about 72 hours a month) at Sister Carmen Food Bank since May of 2017. We moved to Anthem Ranch in Broomfield from Southern California in 2016 to be close to family. Even though there are a lot of ways to spend your day when you retire, volunteering has always been a part of our lives. Volunteering at a food bank was a natural for Harry since he retired from working part time at Trader Joes for 9 years. I did many years of volunteer work with dog rescues, community outreach, and nonprofit organizations,  after our retirement from working together selling real estate.  We simply needed a purpose in our lives and a way to give back.  Sister Carmen Food Bank was the answer. What we love about our “jobs” is that it is not really a job, it is fun, and we always do something different each day and with wonderful coworkers.  We call it our “food bank family” as this is like our second home.  Harry loves bringing in all the breads, pastries, produce and Whole Foods and Costco prepared foods when the truck comes in and stocking all the shelves. He is a big hand to Ruth, our hard working fearless leader lifting and organizing food items in the warehouse. I enjoy projects like assembling toiletry and goodie bags for the families in need, stocking all the pastries and bread on the shelves, helping with the produce, putting little goodies in food boxes and just making sure everything is organized.  I love to hear Harry laughing and having fun with his coworkers. We are constantly busy, moving and getting plenty of exercise.  Yes, we are tired at the end of our shift, however, it is a great feeling to be needed and give back to the community.”  –Nancy and Harry Blum

Want to join our team of volunteers? Click here to learn more.