Volunteer Appreciation Week 2017

The Maryland Food Bank volunteers are essential people helping us work toward the mission to end hunger. Whether they’re working on the Eastern Shore, Baltimore community kitchen or with one of our partners in Western Maryland, we appreciate all of the work they do. In 2016, more than 5,700 volunteers contributed 35,000 hours of work to help the hungry across our state. In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week, we are highlighting some of of our most dedicated volunteers from the last year.

Edward Skibicki

To Edward Skibicki, the most compelling reason for volunteering at the Maryland Food Bank facility in Salisbury is to meet the other volunteers and hear why they donate their time to MFB. Skibicki, a regular volunteer at the Eastern Shore warehouse, can be found two days a week helping his hungry neighbors. Now retired, Skibicki spent most of his career working in warehousing and manufacturing and decided to volunteer his time instead of becoming a consultant. Since he started volunteering in September 2015, he’s become a crucial part of the Eastern Shore’s warehouse team and has met plenty of new friends along the way.

“I like to help people and this is just a little way of doing that. It’s worthwhile and it’s good for me. It gives me a routine that I can stick to and makes me feel good at the same time.” – Edward Skibicki

Roberta Tunstall

For more than 10 years, Roberta Tunstall has spent time volunteering at the food bank’s Baltimore headquarters to help her hungry neighbors. When she first heard about the need for volunteers on the news about a decade ago, she knew it was her duty to help out. From working in the warehouse on the conveyor belt to sorting frozen meat in the temperature-controlled cold room, Roberta has taken on just about every volunteer project available and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Despite working a job at night, she spends two days each week at the food bank volunteering in both our kitchen and warehouse.

“I’m coming here to give back. Just seeing that I can make a difference to people in need makes a difference in my life. It’s something I feel good about doing.” – Roberta Tunstall

Maggie Kovack

Centreville resident Maggie Kovack first learned about the Maryland Food Bank after answering a call for volunteers in her church bulletin two years ago. She and her husband, Rich Kovack, quickly became passionate about volunteering with the Farm To Food Bank program on the Eastern Shore. Rich was so enthusiastic, he went beyond gleaning fresh produce in the fields to become a regular volunteer for a local community partner picking up food from a retail donor once a month. Although Rich recently passed away, Maggie remains dedicated to working as a food bank volunteer with her husband’s legacy in mind.

“Rich absolutely loved helping to pull sweet corn and harvest cantaloupes. I’ll continue volunteering this summer and know that Rich will be looking over us.”

Northrop Grumman

For more than 12 years, Northrop Grumman has played an important role in the Maryland Food Bank’s efforts to fight hunger. In the last year alone, 285 of the company’s employees have donated more than 665 hours of volunteer service, making Northrop Grumman one of our largest and most dependable corporate groups. The company emphasizes the importance of volunteerism by offering many different kinds of opportunities to employees, including filling shifts twice a month at the food bank’s Baltimore facility. In addition to helping their community, the volunteer shifts also serve as relationship and team-building activities for the company, said Jeanne D. McGuirk, Corporate Citizenship Specialist, Eastern Region at Northrop Grumman.

“We want to build partnerships for a stronger community. It’s very important for us to be able to offer these opportunities to Northrop Grumman employees so they can support things that are meaningful to them in the communities where they work and live.”

Janice Cronice

More than five years ago, Janice Cronice joined the volunteer force at the Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore after seeing an article in the newspaper. She first began sorting cans as a volunteer in the warehouse but has since moved on to working in the office for several departments twice a week. Cronice, who retired from the payroll department of St. Agnes Hospital in 2011, enjoys donating her time to the food bank’s donor services team. She helps process mail and keep records up to date with meticulous care. Her can-do attitude and ability to tackle complicated projects makes her an invaluable part of the MFB team working to end hunger.

“I enjoy working here. There are just so many people out there who are in bad shape and I feel like I’m doing something to help them.”