The food pantry now averages more than 120 households per day thanks to our dedicated volunteers and the Smart Choice program. In fact, our Smart Choice program works as well as it does, because of just two volunteers – Dale and Martha Murphy.
As Mel Fortin, Director of Food Pantry Services says, “Martha and Dale were a huge help during the conversion to the new panty software and remodel. They are always willing to take on anything I ask of them including looking up prices for all 1,500 items in the pantry! What they helped with makes family experiences even better.”
For a solid month, Dale and Martha worked from home meticulously editing and cataloging 1,500 product photos, translating descriptions to accommodate six languages and assigning a dollar value to each item.
They did this in addition to their Monday shifts, working with the close friends they have developed over 12 years. They came to NFCC with North Fulton Rotary Club and immediately knew the food pantry was right for them, but they may not have realized what they would get in return. The Monday volunteers, like most shifts at the food pantry, form a community who lean on each other through graduations, marriages, grandbabies. They share each others triumphs and sorrows and they share the experience of seeing the impact they have in the lives of others.
Seeing the mission in action all this time convinced Dale and Martha to become Circle of Hope members as well. As Dale shared, “We saw the need right away and we wanted to make a difference. This is not just an entitlement. It’s a way for families to make choices and budget their points.”
We cannot express the importance of people like Dale and Martha who can we can rely on week after week to donate their time, energy and talent to live the mission to help ease hardship and foster financial stability in our community. We are incredibly grateful for the contribution every volunteer makes to our community.
