A self-described people person, Rick Adelman retired for the fourth time amidst the COVID pandemic. But instead of spending his days on the golf course or at the pickleball courts, he returned to a familiar passion: serving his community. He had volunteered with an animal shelter and the juvenile courts, among other efforts. He could have chosen any number of non-profits, but a chance encounter with a food distribution event introduced him to Second Harvest Food Bank, and he was all-in.
Venturing out during the COVID lockdown, Rick noticed cars lined up at a shopping center in Northwest Greensboro and stopped to see what was happening. “People were picking up food. It was Second Harvest’s effort to supplement what its local partner agencies were doing to serve the increased need for food,” he says. “I asked if I could help.”
That shopping center was home to Second Harvest’s Greensboro Distribution and Nutrition Education Center, where Rick has clocked anywhere from 10 to 40-plus hours a week since that day in 2020. Recalling the sometimes-lonely days of the COVID lockdown, Rick says there wasn’t much to do, “But this I could do.”
“It’s important to be out doing something,” he says. “I’ve met a lot of really nice people and just fell in love with the process Second Harvest had developed.”
During his career as an apparel and textile manufacturer in the US and internationally, Rick spent time in low-income areas around the globe.
"I believe deeply in Second Harvest’s mission, "I’ve witnessed poverty firsthand. I’ve known hard-working people who still struggle to feed their families."
The Second Harvest motto – everyone deserves to eat – speaks loudly to Rick. “I’ve been places where not everyone gets enough to eat every day,” he says. “It is really great to have an organization like Second Harvest where volunteers can do something that has an immediate positive impact on the community.”
At the Greensboro facility, volunteers inspect and sort food drive donations and bulk food donations from grocery stores and food manufacturers – and then box the groceries to fill orders from food pantries throughout the eastern portion of the Food Bank’s service area. Some of the donations are sent to the Winston-Salem warehouse for partner food assistance agencies that pick-up groceries there. As a lead volunteer, Rick schedules and trains volunteers – some who are now lead volunteers themselves – and assists with managing the flow of food items between Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
“Sometimes we have an avalanche of inventory to be processed,” Rick says during a walk-through of the Greensboro facility in late October. On this day, the racks are bare.
“Everything was pulled from here and taken to Winston-Salem. From there, Second Harvest sent tractor trailers of food to western North Carolina for hurricane relief.”
Huge walk-in refrigerators hold 50-pound bags of potatoes and onions and other produce that will go into the partner pantry orders. Glass-front refrigerator cases line one wall. Rick explains they will be used in the future for a small food pantry serving resident of nearby neighborhoods.
It's quiet in the building. Besides Rick, there a Guest Services team member, Terry, is greeting visitors and answering the phone helping direct people to pantry partners and a young man boxing up pantry partner orders. Rick has come in just for the interview; there is less need for volunteers until the food donation inventory builds back up. He expects that to happen during the holidays and looks forward to hearing the hum of the forklift and the chatter of volunteers, including regulars from the nearby campus of North Carolina A&T State University.
“We have about 14 student organized community service groups from A&T who come here on a regular basis, some volunteering every week during the school year, he says. Volunteers also include corporate groups from local companies and large corporations who give their team members VTO (volunteer time off ) to give them the opportunity to help the community. Rick mentions a local bakery that closed for a day-long deep cleaning and paid its employees to work at Second Harvest.
Having volunteered with different organizations over the years, Rick says he enjoys the flexibility offered at Second Harvest. “We have a lot of shifts to meet peoples’ availability,” he says, “and I’m amazed with all that Second Harvest is able to accomplish.”
But most of all, he likes the people. “The team members at Second Harvest are amazing people, dedicated and passionate about the mission. The volunteers are enthusiastic and excited to be helping others – the energy they bring is truly inspiring and it really makes you feel good to be in such an upbeat environment. Everyone is there because they want to help” he says.
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