TASK would not – could not – exist without volunteers. We rely on volunteers to serve the 8,000 meals we prepare each week at our Escher Street dining room and our more than 30 community meals sites throughout the Trenton area. We look to volunteers to tutor students, help patrons in the computer lab, lead our Board and committees, run donation drives, and help complete service projects to supplement our programs and services.

Volunteers are the motor that makes TASK’s engine run.

Watching our volunteers work is truly amazing. You truly excel at embodying radical hospitality throughout our Escher Street dining room and community meal sites. From placing freshly-prepared, delicious food on plates, to walking trays to our patrons, to keeping the dining room clean, you work together day in and day out. Runners place the food in front of patrons with a “Good afternoon, sir” or “Enjoy, your meal, ma’am.” Others hand out fresh coffee, fruit, salad, and soup. Still others distribute hundreds of to-go meals daily.

And those are just the volunteers I see in TASK’s dining room. There are hundreds of others who work on their own to collect and donate much-needed items like shelf-stable food, hygiene bags, and utensil packets.

At TASK, we believe one meal can change a life. As a volunteer, warm smile, kind word, and encouragement goes a long way. YOU are the key to improving someone’s quality of life, and one of the first steps on their journey to self-sufficiency.

In addition, you are TASK’s most important ambassadors. This National Volunteer Month, we hope you will feel inspired to spend some time with us, and – most importantly – we hope that you feel our gratitude.

THANK YOU for helping us to turn hunger into hope.

Charlie Orth,
Volunteer and Patron Services Coordinator