Meet Alison, our Manager, Volunteer Services at Daily Bread Food Bank. Since joining the People & Culture team in March 2024, she’s been passionate about creating and fostering a sense of community for our incredible volunteers.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
Every day is different, but it usually involves a combination of meeting with individual volunteers and communicating with various managers in the areas that volunteers provide their support. It can include coordinating shifts, addressing challenges, or ensuring our volunteer hub and scheduling system are up to date. I also support community or school groups who want to volunteer onsite, provide tours of the facility, and make time to connect with our volunteers each day.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
It’s the people. I love working with volunteers and staff toward one common purpose. To see the same smiling faces week to week is really fulfilling.
The other fulfilling thing is losing volunteers. We sometimes have folks who volunteer with us and are looking for a new job. This opportunity allows them to gain experience, and if we write a reference letter, and find out that they got a job somewhere else, that is really gratifying. We might have lost a volunteer, but that person is moving onto something that is enriching their lives.
What has been your greatest professional achievement?
I think it’s been the relationships I’ve built – whether with staff, or volunteers that I’ve had the opportunity to meet. It’s been so nice to get to know people and see them grow.
What made you decide to join the Daily Bread team?
I came to Daily Bread after working in a corporate role because I wanted something different. My brother, who has a form of early onset dementia called FTD, has been volunteering here for about 2 or 3 years. His ability to do things has been declining, but one thing he can still do is chop vegetables, so he volunteers in the kitchen twice a week. He’s nonverbal, but just seeing how much he loves coming here, how he’s able to help a lot of people, and work alongside incredible volunteers has been amazing. I loved how welcoming the organization has been to him. That’s why when I saw this posting, I wanted to apply because it was really important to me that this is what I did next in my career.
What are your hobbies?
I really enjoy crafting scavenger hunts and participated in the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt (GISH). It’s stopped now, but the last year it ran, I got onto an international team, and over the course of a week we completed many different tasks, like making a 9 foot pair of wings out of candy, and my team won!
I love doing thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles.
I’m a new Butterfly Ranger with the David Suzuki Foundation. I’m aiming to help get 12 new butterfly gardens started this year. I have a pollinator garden at my house and it’s an official Monarch Waystation.
What are people often surprised to learn about you?
People are often surprised to learn that I’m a crafty person (she’s done food and felt art, and you’ll never see her without a cool pair of earrings that she’s often created herself).
Back when I had my kids, I ran the second largest mom’s meet-up. The first largest was in New York, but here in Toronto we had thousands of moms doing two to three meet-ups a day. I had post-partum depression and initially started it because I needed a reason to get out. I started just by posting about meeting for coffee or a walk. First it was one person that showed up, and then it grew.
What’s your favourite TV show?
I’m a big Survivor fan!
Thank you, Alison, for your willingness to jump into every task head first (no matter how big or small) and for ensuring that our volunteers are empowered in all that they do!
