For over thirty years, Kenneth has been with CFBNJ, volunteering in his spare time. During CFBNJ’s earliest days of winter coat drives and thrift sales, Kenneth and his daughter helped sort through the mountains of bags full of coats.
More recently, in the past four years, Kenneth has become an exceptionally dedicated CFBNJ volunteer, devoting his Fridays to us as he prepared to retire. Since retiring fully, he has spent his Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings to sorting, prepping, and packaging nutritious food and meals for our neighbors in need.
His contributions to the community, however, don’t stop at us. Kenneth also spends his Thursdays and Fridays at two of our community partners in Morristown and Parsippany. There, he distributes the very food and meals he packed and prepped at CFBNJ.
“I work both sides, so I’m at the place where the people actually come in their cars and get food,” he told us, “I feel fortunate to see both sides of it. I’ve seen the macaroni at the food drives there.”
More than anything, he volunteers to serve a purpose for his community, quoting Arthur Ashe, “From what we get, we can make a living; From what we give, we make a life.” After being a financial controller for many years, he shared that volunteering and helping his community is now the main focus of his life.
“I’m trying to do a little thing in my community to help people. I think that’s the best way to make a difference,” said Kenneth, “It’s hard to tackle these giant problems, like hunger. They seem so overwhelming. This is something you can put your hands on, and you know that people are going to get their food soon.”
As a diabetic and open-heart surgery survivor, Kenneth added that volunteering is a win-win for him, as it allows him to be physically active.
“As long as I’m physically able, I’m going to keep doing it,” he told us.