This story is written by Christopher Harding, who started volunteering at Daily Bread in 2025. You can often find him in our production hall, where he meticulously goes through food items, ensuring they’re properly sorted and labelled. When Christopher is not at Daily Bread, he writes short stories and plays the guitar.
When you first meet Chef Randy at the Daily Bread Food Bank, two things become immediately clear: He runs a kitchen built on dignity, and he carries a musician’s soul beneath the apron.
During production shifts, you’ll often hear the hum of conversation, the rhythm of sorting lines, and the clatter of trays. But those who’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with Randy also know that he has a quiet gift that reaches further than food: He plays the saxophone.
That little detail says everything about him.
Food might fill the stomach — but Randy understands that music, warmth, and human presence are nourishment, too.
He leads in calm tones, not sharp commands. He treats volunteers as collaborators, not labour. In a space that moves thousands of pounds of food every day, he is grounded, approachable, and unhurried. Volunteers notice that. They respond to it. Leadership without ego has a way of transforming an environment.
In conversation, Randy talks about food as a universal equalizer — the one place where culture, struggle, and humanity all meet at the same table. Whether people arrive from different countries, continents, or life circumstances, they are fed with the same respect. No one is “less.” No one is “secondary.”
That attitude infuses everything he does.
Ask him about a recipe, and he’ll share it generously. Ask him why he’s here, and you’ll hear about the importance of community, rebuilding, and how dignity travels further than calories.
What’s striking, even more than the efficiency he brings to Daily Bread’s kitchen, is how he mirrors the organization’s deeper mission: It isn’t just about moving food — it’s about restoring confidence, hope, and human connection.
The saxophone is never a performance gimmick. Instead, it’s a reminder that everyone here has a story, a hidden talent, a past life, and a future still being written. In a building grounded in service, love of people, and small miracles made daily, Randy’s music is simply another form of giving.
He has become part of the heartbeat of the place.
If you’ve watched him interact with volunteers — from newcomers who shyly ask how to prep ingredients to long-timers who greet him like an old friend — you’ll see what impact looks like without announcements or speeches: steady presence, kindness, skill, and the belief that the smallest gestures matter.
In a way, Chef Randy’s kitchen doesn’t only feed people. It honours them, lifts their spirits, and makes sure that they feel seen.
And if every now and then the sound of a saxophone drifts through the hallway while meals are prepared, sorted, and distributed — all the better.
It turns work into community.
And community into something unforgettable.
We’re so grateful to our volunteers for their generous support. Their commitment to contributing their time, effort, and talent continues to drive us every day as we work to end hunger in our city. Join us on our mission, become a volunteer today!
