A veteran food banker with 34 years on the job, Clyde has seen it all! Since 1986, he’s driven trucks, run the agency shopping area, worked on mobile pantries, and helped the FoodBank relocate twice, just to name a few of his many experiences.
“I’ve lived half of my adult life as a food banker, and I’m still going strong,” he told us. “For me, it’s a way to help others.”
Clyde had never heard of a food bank until he visited an employment agency looking for work and answered an ad for a job in our warehouse, which at the time, was on Stockton Street in Newark.
In 1988, our operations relocated to Fenwick Street, Newark, and then a need for even more space prompted the FoodBank to move again to Evans Terminal in Hillside, its current home. Clyde was instrumental in both major moves.
“We just kept growing and growing,” he said.
Beyond his behind-the-scenes work in the fight against hunger, Clyde has also visited the front lines and met many of our neighbors in need over the years.
“I got out there to meet people at the agencies and to see what it’s like going to the soup kitchens and seeing what the people really need,” he said. “I used to work on the mobile pantries, too. I remember the lines, the long lines.”
Now, Clyde proudly represents our mission as the most senior current member of our team.
When asked what’s kept him here for so long, he told us, “I love what I do. I love to see people with smiles on their faces when they walk away knowing that they can eat tonight and that they can feed their families.”