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.

Bob and Betty, a loving elderly couple, spent much of their lives secure and happy—working hard and living the dream in California. Unfortunately, the recession hit them hard: Bob, a contract worker, was laid off, there was no work to be found in his industry, and housing costs were quickly on the rise. They knew staying in California was unsustainable, so they tried moving to the Colorado Rockies and starting over. During the next 5 years, Bob found unreliable on-again off-again contract work and the couple were barely getting by. Social security was not enough to cover the necessities, and their savings slowly dwindled away.

Then Bob found a good job opportunity in Boulder, so they packed up along with their two cats and moved to Lafayette in their truck—a seemingly temporary necessity—when the job fell through.

So in the spring of 2019, the couple found themselves living out of their truck in an unfamiliar area with no money and no friends or family that could help. Their phone was turned off when they couldn’t pay their bill. They moved the truck from place to place every night, because they weren’t allowed to camp anywhere for long and their gas was disappearing.

“We were just floating,” said Betty.

Bob said they never imagined they’d be in such a situation: he was employable, has a lot of skills, they were responsible and have good credit. Things just shouldn’t be going this way.

“But we never felt sorry for ourselves or less than. People need to know that if they’re in a situation like ours, they still count, they matter,” said Betty.

But the couple stayed resilient and were extremely resourceful. Soon after being in the area, they found hot meals available at Josephine Commons and help from a local church they began attending. The Lafayette Senior Center became a place for Betty to spend the day, where she could shower, exercise, have some tea and muffins while Bob used the computers to find work. But Bob said the hardest thing to get was gas. No one really offered gas money, the truck was their only home and transportation, “and it’s a gas guzzler,” said Bob.

Betty said the hardest time for her was losing her beloved cat, Mickey, who usually spent every night curled inside her sleeping bag with her, but ran away while they were moving their truck. Weeks went by and they had driven all over town trying to find him. Then, after dropping Betty off at the Senior Center one day, Bob saw Mickey just walk right by him! Betty and Mickey were finally reunited.

The couple was initially referred to Sister Carmen Community Center for help with food, but they found so much more. They met with an SCCC Advocate several times and were eventually connected to Brittany, SCCC’s Advocate Manager for more support. Bob and Betty said that Brittany is a very special person and that often just having someone to talk to makes the biggest difference.

“We didn’t know where to go or how to get started. But this (SCCC) was a haven. The difference with Sister Carmen is that once you walked in, there’s like an aura of compassion, caring, and an outpouring of love. Everyone made us feel like we were doing okay, but they can help us get better. We kept reminding ourselves this would only be temporary.”

Not only did Bob and Betty get food for themselves, but they got cat food from the Pet Pantry that comes once a week, they were able to get connected with gas cards, money to cover some medication of Betty’s when it ran out, and most importantly, a deposit and first month’s rent to get into an apartment. In September, after five months of living in their truck and just as Sister Carmen was helping the couple to get housed, Bob finally secured a job! They moved into their new place and spent the first night in just their sleeping bags on the floor. The next day they woke up to the first snow of the year and were so grateful they didn’t have to spend the night in the truck.

After they were housed, SCCC gave them thrift store vouchers to help get settled in their apartment while they were still getting things out of storage. They are now happily settled.

“It’s important for people to know that it gets frustrating,” said Betty, “but if you have a good attitude that helps a lot.”