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Think about a typical Friday. For many people, it means the end of the week and time to wind down.
For others, it is a day of relief, a day when many local families know they will have food to eat for the coming week.
Debra “Deb” Heath has spent the past seven years ensuring that local families in need have a place to go when they need food.
Every Friday at the Nunda Township Hall, Heath coordinates the arrival of two trucks filled with food donated from local grocery stores.
She and her 15 volunteers turn the township hall into a grocery store of sorts. They unpack the trucks, set up tables and arrange food for fast and easy shopping for the nearly 100 families they serve each week.
“They unload the food truck boom, boom, boom. People walk through there almost like a grocery store. They get to go through once until everyone is served and if there is food left, they go back around again,” said Lee Jennings, Nunda Township supervisor, who opened the doors of the township hall after Heath had started searching for a larger space to serve more people.
“Part of the job of the township supervisor is to help people in need,” Jennings said. “Deb puts no criteria on who she’s helping.”
Jennings said nothing goes to waste. He said Heath takes what is remaining to the Valley of the Kings Sanctuary and Retreat – a lion, tiger and wolf rescue located in Sharon, Wisconsin.
Conni Skroch of Fox River Grove has been volunteering with Heath for two years. She initially came to the program to get food for a friend of hers.
“When I first got there, I saw Deb greeting people by the first name. After the third time, I asked if could volunteer,” she said.
Skroch said she thinks Heath keeps doing this because it is just who she is.
“She is warm and always smiling and helpful,” she said. “If people need more food, Deb will give them other information on where to get free dinners and other things.”
How does Heath stay inspired after setting up, cleaning and driving to the animal rescue?
“I have a T-shirt that says, ‘Some people see the glass half full, and some see it as half empty. They miss the point. It is refillable,’” Heath said. “Someone is saying thank God it is Friday because their fridge is empty. It is refillable. My truck is refillable. That is a gift from God.”