I don’t consider myself a fancy foodie. I am a simple lover of food and eating – my most soul-nourishing time is spent around the dinner table. I have warm memories of simple, homemade meals cooked just for me by my Grandmother and feeling so loved. Through the years I looked after her too, when she broke her arm at 75 I filled her freezer with food as a way of showing that same love she showed me as a child. And having worked in the food industry for over 17 years, I guess you could say the love and power of food is a theme in my life.
By day, I am a digital project manager at Listrak, a family-owned e-commerce marketing company based out of Lititz, PA. The company values community service and among other initiatives has implemented a volunteer time-off program which gives its employees 24 hours off a year to volunteer with local non-profit organizations. Opportunities were coming and going, but I wanted to partner with a cause I believed in so I waited – and finally – along came Meals on Wheels. Delivering nutritious meals, companionship and a watchful eye on the health and safety of seniors, this was exactly what I waited for!
That was a year and a half ago. Today, I volunteer as much as I can next to some of the best people and last spring I accepted a chair on the board of directors. Providing affordable nourishment for the body and soul, independence, and dignity to seniors is important, and I want to help promote the organization and awareness, reach out to volunteers, and serve however else I am able to. I hope that what I contribute can somehow deliver to someone, even just a piece of, what my Grandmother made me feel by cooking for me. I think she would be proud!
EmmaLee McGuigan
