Volunteer of the Quarter: Mary Evelyn Gibert, Bob Graham, Audrie Kelton, Kent Leslie and Kenneth Wells

What is a volunteer? Dictionary.com defines a volunteer as a person who performs a service willingly and without pay. Here at the Atlanta Community Food Bank we just call them irreplaceable.

Like all nonprofits, the Food Bank depends a great deal on the support of our volunteers, and we have been lucky to host hundreds of thousands over the past 30 years. While many have been one-time helpers, we have several who keep coming back, and there are a special few who take their dedication to a whole new level.

Volunteers of the Quarter Mary Evelyn Gibert, Bob Graham, Audrie Kelton, Kent Leslie and Kenneth Wells all share this in common. They have given their time and talent to the Food Bank for many consecutive years, and each of them has accumulated at least 1,000 hours of volunteer service with us. Some have even surpassed 2,000 hours - the equivalent of 40 hours a week for a full year!

Each of them started volunteering at the Food Bank for different reasons, but all have the same motivation to keep coming back; they have the time and they know we have the need. Mary Evelyn and Audrie agree it's the people they've met that makes volunteering with us special. Audrie says "it's the wonderful atmosphere and the satisfaction of knowing that I'm helping an organization that is doing such good work that makes me stay." Kenneth sites his reason for coming to the Food Bank is knowing he is helping save us money by working on facility projects that we might otherwise have to pay someone to complete. Kent looks forward to riding on the Atlanta's Table truck every Friday and can't imagine her life without this weekly tradition. Bob is motivated to help just knowing how much the team in the warehouse needs him each Tuesday.

We appreciate the efforts of all of our volunteers and salute these five, giving individuals for their extraordinary service!